[Noisebridge-discuss] A potential space - the No Starch Press building (and how we can handle voting)

[David Alexander Molnar]

On Fri, 21 Dec 2007, Jacob Appelbaum wrote:

Hi everyone,

> Eventually, we're going to need a method to record what we want to do
> formally. This is not unlike voting but we're not pushing for a vote
> just yet. This is mostly people listing their desires and concerns.

I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the meeting - the notes and pictures are 
exciting. Looking forward to seeing it for myself! I am also in favor of 
continuing to pursue this space.

I was excited enough to discuss this with my dad, who used to be in 
construction. He brought up a couple of points that are worth sharing - 
things we may want to consider for any space, No Starch or not. I didn't 
see these on the wiki so here they are (also added to wiki):

*** Inspection.
 	- Pre-inspection (do now) : Have someone go through and give 
us a list of what is or is not up to snuff in the current space. This 
includes building code and also any other issues we can think of. We then 
have a place to start with rennovations that must be done. It is probably 
worth having a professional do this, unless people here happen to have 
experience in the area.

Bill, if you're on the list, do you happen to have inspected the place 
already or know when you plan to do it?

 	- Post-inspection : After our rennovations, have someone go 
through and check that they're done. Save trouble later.

*** Electrical system.
 	- What kind of load can the space support?
 	- Fire hazards due to old wiring?
 	- Does any part of the electrical system need to be replaced?

Someone else previously mentioned cooling and A/C, especially after people 
start leaving boxes at the space. My guess is that we are going to stress 
this fairly hard, between electronics experiments, laptops, and the 
eventual refrigerator.

*** Lead paint - does the space have it?

*** Lead pipes
 	- Does the building have lead pipes? While no one lives there, we 
may be cooking and will definitely have a bathroom. (Also it wouldn't be 
very nice for our eventual hacker guests to give them lead poisoning. :)

*** Fire suppression
 	- Do we need to put in sprinklers or more? If we keep paints, 
paint thinner, etc. in the space this is more pressing than otherwise. May 
still need to plan for electrical fires.

*** Ventilation
 	- Especially for darkroom or for painting.

*** Insulation - asbestos? is there any currently?

*** Contractors
 	- If there are pieces of the work we don't do ourselves, who do we 
ask to handle it? We would need to find contractors, preferably licensed, 
reputable ones. The outfit he knew off the top of his head was 
"WebCorp Builders" (really!), but he wasn't sure if they do this kind 
of work now.

I've also added this to the wiki at
https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php/QuestionsForTheSpace

Please feel free to move or merge if it makes more sense elsewhere.
This is in addition to the structural soundnes issues we've already talked 
about, like foundation work.

Personally speaking, the pre-inspection seems like the most important, 
because it tells us what we need to do next. Then we can look at each 
piece. Here it seems to me we should coordinate with Bill to figure out 
what kind of inspection and improvements are planned for the space 
currently, and when the results may be available.

Looking forward to seeing everyone next month,
-David Molnar