Minutes:Meeting Minutes 20260303
 | This is an agenda, the meeting minutes have not been put online yet. |
Agenda for 2026-03-03
Meeting Location
Meeting was Called to Order At: 19:30
https://i3detroit.org/hangout and at i3Detroit
If you'd like to be added to the attendance list, please message your name in the thread in #meetings on Slack
Hybrid Meeting Etiquette
- Be excellent.
- Attendance and voting can be found in the #meetings slack channel.
- Please show up early if you are concerned about your audio.
- If there is no one waiting to speak feel free to do so at the next opportunity.
- If there is someone waiting to speak, please say that you are raising your hand in the google call chat. (This will be demonstrated)
- Please refrain from other side conversations, these can be distracting for the rest of the meeting and make it difficult for the chair to keep track of what's going on.
- If you're in the space remember that having a single person speaking at a time is helpful for those attending online.
Introductions
What does being excellent at i3 mean
An experienced member explains what being excellent at i3 means to them
- Thomas
Experienced Members
- Paul: New fablab ZoCo
- Andrew Y: Member advocate
- Ted. Hello to all the new people!
New Members & Guests
- Steve. New member.
Show and Tell
- Wei (Media zab zoco). Made a violin. Neck is carbon fiber PLA. 5 String violin.
- Brian: Designed something for craft zone
- Paul L: Made some fidgets. Engine fidgets and a few others.
- AJ: Made a few ceramic things. Bird and a goose!
- New member: hydroformed metal from a furniture making class in undergrad.
Old Business
- n/a
Outstanding Action Items
New Business
VPAC / Upcoming Events
- Volunteers to host upcoming Friday tours? We always need more!
- Up coming Events Calendar
Special call out to all those who teach classes- thank you very much. This is some of the life's blood of i3.
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3 Mar 2026 Member Meeting
4 March 2026 Fablab office hours
6 Mar 2026 In-Person Friday Night Tours!
6 Mar 2026 MUSIC- Wei
7 Mar 2026 Expansion buildout day
7 Mar 2026 2026 Story Hour / The Watercooler / Social Milieu
10 Mar 2026 Memberification & Treasure Paperwork Party
13 Mar 2026 In-Person Friday Night Tours!
13 Mar 2026 Leather Lounge Fridays
14 Mar EMPUG Python Meeting (Classroom)2026
14 Mar 2026 Expansion buildout day
17 Mar 2026 Board Meeting
20 Mar 2026 In-Person Friday Night Tours!
21 Mar 2026 Expansion buildout day
21 Mar 2026 Potluck
27 Mar 2026 In-Person Friday Night Tours!
28 Mar 2026 Expansion buildout day
3 Apr 2026 In-Person Friday Night Tours!
4 Apr 2026 Expansion buildout day
4 Apr 2026 Story hour
Other notes:
I've been in contact with other maker spaces about having a get together @ i3 or other space to compare ideas. One of the other people has responded with this event in march:
Request to stop adding the events list using "h4 style" for the text -- it considers everything listed as a new heading, and makes the navigation menu very, very long.
To add color to the font, please use "span style=" instead. You can use three ' around the text to make it bold as well.
Example
Change to Standing Rules Board Conflict of Interest and Recusal Policy
Proposal Text:
Proposal to change standing rules to include a Conflict of Interest and Recusal Policy for Board Members, Officers, and Members conducting business on behalf of i3. If passed, this language would go under the Board of Directors, Officers, and Elections section of the Standing Rules as Item #5. See the following language.
5. Conflict of Interest/Recusal Policy
- All Board Members, Officers, and Members who conduct business on behalf of i3 shall hold a fiduciary responsibility to i3.
- All Board Members and Officers of i3 should seek to avoid any real or perceived conflict of interest while conducting the business of i3.
- All Board Members and Officers will disclose annually any potential conflicts of interest.
- These disclosures will be maintained by the secretary.
- In matters of disciplinary action, if a Board Member/Officer is an involved party, they must recuse themselves from motions, votes, and discussions involving disciplinary action.
- When a board member recuses themselves, they abstain from all voting on that issue.
- In the event a unanimous or supermajority vote is required for passage of an action, such as imposing a ban on a member, a vote will be considered unanimous if all Board Members, minus the abstaining member(s), vote for the resolution.
Context
This establishes an ethical standard for board members, officers, and members. A fiduciary responsibility is one of the highest ethical standards a person can be held to. It would require our Board members, Officers, and any members conducting business on behalf of i3 to always act in the best interest of the organization. In the event that there is a real or perceived conflict of interest, this sets the standard for a person serving in an official capacity to recuse themselves. Under current rules, a ban requires a unanimous vote. If a board decision, including a ban, which requires a unanimous, or super majority vote, was being considered for an active Board member, they could simply vote no and would essentially be unbannable until they were removed from office. Under current rules, if a board member chooses to recuse themselves, it is ambiguous whether the ban could still pass as rules are currently written. Additionally, this language is something that grant-issuing organizations like foundations want to see in organizations they are giving money to. This was posted to the meeting agenda on 2/4/2026 @ 1415, well ahead of the 7 day notice required for standing rules changes.Moved by Andrew Youmans, Seconded by Alex
19 Ayes / 0 Nays
Result: PASS
Gratitude Corner
- Brian B, thank you for cleaning the resin out of the sink!
- Jesse T, thank you for coming in and giving your first tour when Aj asked for help with tours!
- Jan: For showing everybody who is interested in the sewing room everything about the sewing room.
- Bill: Help with the sheet metal cutting.
Disciplinary Action
In order to be more transparent with membership, the Board has been discussing giving a short update during member meetings any time we have to take disciplinary action. We are going to start this today.
- Jeff P's suspension for violating our harassment policy has been turned into a ban due to not following the guest policy during his suspension and a pattern of behavior that goes against i3's policies.
- Michael L has been suspended for 30 days due to continuing to get items shipped to i3 after having been told that he cannot do this multiple times.
If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to Aj or another Board member after the meeting. If you aren't comfortable talking to a Board member, I encourage you to reach out to our Member Advocate, Andrew Youmans.
Zone updates
- Inventory/cataloging of equipment is 95% complete - users who own tools are requested to check that item ownership is listed correctly on the wiki
- Spring compressor has been purchased and wiped down - a possible mounting location has been proposed and marked with tape (located on the wall b/w auto and glass zone).
- Mounting brackets currently included have 4 bolt holes (sized for 7/16" bolts), 3 of which are in close proximity to each other (approx 1" apart). There is some doubt whether this will work for mounting into cinderblock - proposing we fab some spreader plates that can be welded onto the existing plates - 3/16" steel sheet stock is available, looking for some assistance with design and fabrication (could be plasma cut and mig welded).
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- Starting discussion about celling options
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- Please put the chairs back by the tables when you're done with them :(
- Commons will have a lot of potential things to do during the next Potlock! I'd very much appreciate the help if you're willing
- Includes cleaning and organizing, but also using the cricut, scanning photos, and coming up with a design to get the whiteboard off the ground!
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- Got an email. Somebody emailed if we could use a power supply.
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- A number of lights in the space that were not properly functioning have been repaired or replaced as needed.
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- Everything in the leather zone is up and running.
- Classes will start probably in six weeks. Look for:
- Belt making
- Wallet making
- Journal making
- Beginner course in leather working.
- Beginner course in tooling leather (later this summer)
- n/a
- Looking emptier and neater. There's some monitors. Will expand into old craft room and elab. Hopefully media lab is more useable.
- In December, we paid for a license for Adobe Suite. Please let us know if you use it so that we know whether to keep it or not!
- We are no longer going to be storing everybody's personal paint. Any flammable paint needs to be put in the flammables cabinet, any merely combustible paint needs to be taken out of the zone and stored elsewhere. Things that are still good and are meant for general use will be kept. There's a ton of old unlabeled paint and that is going to be gone through and most of it will probably be thrown out, what is kept will be labeled for general use.
- We are hoping to tear down the old spray booth and assemble the new spray booth during the Saturday expansion work day. We're just waiting for the Sewing/elab AC line which is resting on the current booth's ceiling to be secured. Also we might have to fireproof the old window between Paint Zone and Sewing Zone
- Zone status: yes, parts are ready with basic functions while the finishing up happens.
- the 4x8 table is first come for availability.
- The 5x10' table is on the Hello Club reservation system, so test it out. Just to be safe while we're testing it out, it would be excellent to also announce here on slack if you've reserved it. Max time is 6 hours., one reservation per person at a time.
- It might not be obvious just yet but the 4x8 is available as an alternative sewing desk, at the window end on the north side. The stool puts you at the right height. As for the machine pedal, we have to build something still. I used a drywall compound bucket, and that put it at the right height for me. Experiment a little.
- Why the tall table and not the shorter one as the extra desk? Sitting/sewing at the 5x10 blocks aisle access, requires cords in the walkway and it's likely to be more popular as a layout and cutting surface due to its full size. Originally, there WAS a sewing machine table planned just west of the 5x10, along the wall. But the scale paper map didn't match the life-sized realities and that area next to the table became a walkway.
- There will be a sewing machine desk for two machines, north of the entrance, but it's in the design and construction phase right now. In the meantime, Violet is available at the one desk there.
- You can embroider if you've been trained and authorized, or if not, you can request training.
- Ironing station is partially ready. There's a table, and an older iron, a shirt press (presently stored under the 4x8' until a shelf is made for it), a steamer in the corner, and a regular ironing board hanging off the shelving. It's very compact in that corner, but it fits.
- I haven't had a chance to test out the steamer or press, so if you do, check out the manual and report back for the rest of us? Wiki help filling out the equipment pages with more detail is good too.
- Fitting room mirrors design/mounting remains a fun project on the list. Wood for doors to the exterior alcove was cut Saturday, but the next step is planing I think and it needs a blade.
- The awning is stitched, the frame is built -- we were waiting to see if the oven would be a good fit so the frame could be powder coated but ultimately it's probably too big so we will just paint it, and will need to figure out the scheduling for that in the paint room.
- We need a hanger for the zone sign Kevin painted, it'll be a milestone to see that up!
- I started printing manuals last week, Jen has been testing a few machines, and with each, I've been switching them to "running" in the wiki. Wiki work and equipment testing is ongoing.
- Tag month!!! 8 Red Tags issued :(
- Storage could potentially use some help during the next Potlock! Includes cleaning up B-side mezzanine treehouse (between Ceramics and Wood Shop), getting a table up there, and potentially a storage rack build project (if we can get 10' boards to use for it)
- Florian Dutke approved as Coordinator at January 20, 2026 Board Meeting.
- Contacted IT Cabal to secure necessary Coordinator access rights to zone email, share drive, etc. (mostly completed).
- Obtained donation box lock key from Treasurer.
- Counted contents of donation box ($57.50) and supplied to Treasurer to add it to existing Zone Fund balance (was $337, now $394.50).
- Organized the storage bins for fractional and metric sockets.
- Organized the storage bins for hole saws.
- Organizing the hardware storage bins on West facing wall (WIP).
- Vacuumed the floor around the zone.
- Cleaned up the wiki a lot (WIP). Power tools inventory separated into corded, cordless and pneumatic.
- Added tables to the wiki for tool accessories, consumables, hardware and fasteners (WIP).
- In the process of executing a complete inventory of the Zone (WIP).
- Based on some discussion with Osama N. the immediate need for additional coping saws and a flush trim saw was identified.
- A small purchase of some additional utility knives, a new coping saw, a new flush trim saw, and some magnetic trays for holding fasteners.
- The existing South facing wooden fastener/hardware storage shelves is being slowly re-organized. Reinforcing of the shelves will likely be required.
- Added (3) three new metric combination wrenches to Zone (20, 22 and 24 mm). Thanks to Nate B.
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- New 8inch Jointer has joined the woodshop team and is ready for use.
- New (to us) Shop Fox bandsaw has joined the woodshop and is ready for use. This is a dedicated resaw fitted with a 1 in blade to cut thick pieces.
- Thanks to a bunch of folks to help get these active - FrankA, OsamaN, JeffB, AndrewY, WallyA, and others.
- Please refer to Wiki instructions for these new machines.
- Next project is to build a mobile dust collector for our hand held equipment like Random Orbit Sanders and Planer. If interested contact TimC.
- We've had a number of classes so far this year including cutting boards, picture frames, and keepsake boxes. More to come. Osama does a great job running these classes and participants walk away with some nice stuff.
- And it never is too often to remind everyone to use the dust collector, remember to open and close blast gates, and clean up any other sawdust around work area.
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- Next event is coming up fast! Setup will be on April 10th and the competition will be on April 11th, competitors will start showing up at 8am.
- I will need some help on both days! If you have any interest in helping out, please let me know
- If you are interested in competing, let me know! I'll be happy to help with whatever I can
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COWBELL
Broom Party!
Action Item Summary
| Action Item | POC |
|---|---|
| Update security cameras that standing rules link to | Daniel |
Proposal Summary
| Proposal | Moved By | Seconded By | Aye | Nay | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposal to change standing rules to include a Conflict of Interest and Recusal Policy for Board Members, Officers, and Members conducting business on behalf of i3. If passed, this language would go under the Board of Directors, Officers, and Elections section of the Standing Rules as Item #5. See the following language.
5. Conflict of Interest/Recusal Policy
| Andrew Youmans | Alex | 19 | 0 | PASS |
Meeting Metrics
- Time completed:20:35
- Attendees:
Attendance
- Chair: AJ
- Secretary: Daniel
| Previous Meeting | Next Meeting |
|---|---|
| Meeting Minutes 20260203 | Meeting Minutes 20260407 |