Vote To Buy The Building

Title

Vote to Buy the Building

Sponsor

• Nick Hawley (Board Secretary)

Co-Sponsors

• Lindsay Moore
• Andrew Wingate (Electronics Area Host)
• Uwe Grosse
• Ian Sampson
• Donzell Gordon
• Andrew Locke
• Jonathan Bisson
• Peter Zieba
• Carl Karsten (Treasurer)
• James Lamken
• Ron Olson
• Crazy Uncle Dave
• Eric Beauchamp
• Joe 'theJuggler' Mertz (Board Member Emeritus)
• Jennie Plasterer

Vote Results

 Quorum:[71]
 Yea Votes: [181]  
 Nay Votes: [2]
 Present or Abstain: [4] 

Schedule

Proposal Date

Date this proposal was posted to the membership and a request for a vote date was sent to the Board.

[6/8/2025]

Member Input

Does the Sponsor choose to open the language of the vote for changes due to member input? (optional and can be modified at any time)

[X] YES [ ] NO

Vote Announcement and Beginning Date of the Discussion Period

The announcement date of the vote proposal is the beginning date of the seven-day (minimum) posting and Member discussion period. (Certain exceptional vote types have longer discussion periods. Check the Bylaws if you are unsure.) If the Sponsor has chosen to include member input, suggested edits can be made in a shared document or other collaborative vehicle until the language is locked. The sponsor can stop taking suggestions at any time.

[6/8/2025]

Language Lock Date and Start of Voting

Five days prior to the Day of the Vote, the vote language is locked, all edits are frozen, and the language of the vote is converted to a pdf file. Ballots that include the pdf are sent to the Membership, and electronic voting begins. Note that the minimum discussion period of seven days leaves only two days for changes before the lock takes place.

[06/12/2025]

Day of the Vote

Date the Board has assigned for the vote. The Day of the Vote is the day the vote closes.

[06/17/2025]

Background

Our landlord has decided to sell the building at the end of our current lease, in June 2026. It is in our best interest that he sell it to us, rather than anyone else. Moving to another location would be borderline impossible - when we sprawled to the second half of our building, it took the better part of a year to get that done.

Synopsis

The asking price is $1,300,000. Currently we've negotiated to $1,250,000. Our landlord has offered to owner-finance for the first 5 years. We will pay a 20% down payment in 2026, then make 5 years of mortgage payments, then make a balloon payment of the remaining balance. We will need to secure a commercial loan to make that balloon payment. The mortgage payments will be approximately $8,500 per month. We will also be responsible for our property taxes, which are currently around $30,000 per year. Our current rent is approximately $9500 per month, plus half of the property tax (paid annually), so the total monthly/annual cost should be similar to our current costs.

Treasurer says

The current financial position and forecast for the organization as determined by the Treasurer is as such: Our current total cash balance is approximately $200,000. We estimate we will have approximately $268,000 by the end of 2025, and $334,000 by the down payment date in 2026. At the currently negotiated purchase price of $1,250,000, the down payment would be $250,000. As such, our remaining cash balance after the down payment would be approximately $84,000.

Language of the Vote

• We authorize the Pumping Station: One Board of Directors to spend up to $1,300,000 to purchase the building, in addition to any closing costs or other fees.
• We authorize the Board to secure necessary loans for this purchase, and make interest payments in addition to the principal.
• We authorize the board to pay property taxes.