[Noisebridge-discuss] 2169 Mission status

[Matt Peterson]

Ok, my big concern is the budget.  I hate to come across as the party  
pooper here.  It's well known that house remodels and upgrades run  
over budget, particularly for newbies in this realm - I could only  
imagine commercial refurbs requiring even more knowledge.  Do we have  
members or friends with intimate knowledge of the permitting process,  
contractor negotiation, parts sourcing, etc (ideally ones willing to  
step up and lead this)?  Sai had valid points in this realm at the  
last meeting, however the overall excitement overruled him repeatedly  
from diving into this.

I plan to block unless a detailed budget is published and agreed  
upon.  Our treasurer should be presenting data that shows our / 
existing/ membership base allows us to afford this space for some time  
PLUS additional surplus from the recent fundraising round.  Let's get  
actual quotes from contractors.  Hand waving and "just trust us" isn't  
going to fly.

In terms of the funds earmarked for the new space, to what extent do  
we limit purchases and upgrades?  I see the most critical items being:  
bathroom(s)/shower, electrical, walls, kitchen and other common shared  
infrastructure.  These are meant to meet ADA, building code  
worthiness, general safety and comfort requirements.  What happens  
when funds are spent, on say on a meat-only storage freezer, color  
photo processing equipment or an industrial CNC machines (all  
hypothetical examples) - yielding gear that isn't "new space"  
specific; are funders Ok with these type of purchases?

Again, not trying to come off as the nay-sayer here but we're flying  
blind from what I can gather currently.  I'm very excited about the  
new space itself, the breathing room we'll have and fun network  
upgrades that will follow.  Let's just be up front and realistic about  
the costs.

--Matt

On Jul 19, 2009, at 7:52 PM, Andy Isaacson wrote:
>
> The landlords apparently aren't interested in doing any work up-front,
> so we'd be doing any work on our own dime and on our own time.  We
> requested that they replace the smaller (front) bathroom with a larger
> bathroom (leaving the current rear bathroom in its current state) and
> they declined.