Hello Garret, sorry I did not see your post. Thank you Courtenay for the bump.
The decision to purchase the kiln was brought before members in the later part of last year. I will try to find the minutes, however, they were spotty last year. This is something we have been consistently better at with this board.
The old kiln was a loan and was requested back. At the same time another member had a kiln and was willing to sell it to the space for $1700. Based on research model and condition this was a seen as a favorable price. The proposal agreed upon by the members the sum would be paid over 1 year. The kiln was installed with a downdraft unit being made by a member. The old kiln was removed by the owner.
Just for record keeping another kiln had been donated over a year earlier, however due to its age condition and the lack of progress in modifying it to our needs was deemed unsuitable.
As you see in the posted minutes from the last 3 board meetings the kiln was discussed in depth. The seller chose to withdraw the verbal sales agreement and switch to a loan agreement. This caused a considerable worry as the kiln is central to the clay operation. The acquisition of a kiln has been a long time operational goal of the Makerspace.
Upon further negotiation there was an offer for lump sum purchase of the kiln. This was seen as the best option as it was currently in place and operational and its loss would jeopardize the clayspace that is a core membership driver. Funds were borrowed from an earmarked account with a $250 am month to be repaid. Discussions around clayspace fundraising to cover this were ongoing.
Late last year a sponsor was approached without approval of the board or members for the purchase of decorative lighting in the eaves of the building. They provided funds for this project, the board voted to approach the sponsor about redirecting funds to a project that would have utility and a much greater impact with members. They were happy to see the funds better utilized. A further effort to thank them for their donation is ongoing. This covered the entire purchase and earmaked funds have been returned in full.
Due to the pressing and at some points confidential nature of this process it was handled on the board level after approval by members in 2020.