02/19/2026

February 2026 Member Meeting Notes RCP NFP

Attendance:

Bill Keltner, Mike Overholt, Kevin Ethridge, Erin Taylor, Andrew Craig, Charlie Ballowe, Jeep Johnson, Heather Houze, Doug Nickels, Kelly Nickels, Ashton, Paul, Brian Hibbert, Kevin S, SAM, New member, Don Kalmes, Xavier

Treasurer report:

111 members, income over expenses ~1.3k. On 1/31, the CD rolled over. Went from 3.9 to 3.5 for 4 month vs 8 month. Will revisit. New stipend added to Feb expenses.

Old Business:

Engineering day Sunday 2/22. Please be at the Space to help by 8:30. Take down at 4:45, official close at 5p. Any one who shows up at the Thursday following gets entered in a drawing for a free month. We will have the laser with us to test for Comicon. We will have dollies with us, they have Pepperidge Farms on them, please keep them with our booth.

ComiCon: 3/7 at the Civic Center. To get a free badge, you will need to do ½ at the booth. WE have class presentations both Saturday and Sunday. During your shift, please hang out at the booth and talk up RCL. Please support Cosplayers who are competing. 10a-1p, 1p-5p shifts. Please reach out via Slack for your badge.

Talk About It Tuesday: on 3/3 at 7a, Jeep and Heather will be on the radio talking about RCL and PeoriaCon. Will likely have tours the following Thursday.

Stipend position has been extended to Jeep. Education and facility maintenance are major components. If there is a ever an issue with the position, bring it to Mike and Bill. It is a state law that the position holder cannot be directly addressed by a complainant.

IGNITE: We have requested the same space as last year. Cost is 1k as we are sponsors this year. Prior to IGNITE we will have a Pinewood Derby night where we all make cars to replace the ones we use at IGNITE. Please volunteer for at least a ½ day. Load in is Fri night, please come to the space if you can.

HorrorCon: September this year at Embassy Suites in East Peoria. It was a tremendous success last time handing out flyers and having the KT Manor booth. It will be at a new facility so we are unsure on space. Are you interested in participating? Please let Bill know. Circulating members is a relief for long shifters. Please think about if you’d like to have a booth - will revisit at next month’s meeting.

Embroidery machine is here and we are starting to learn it. We will have a class soon.

CNC machine: we are on hold as we evaluate which is the best and waiting for the next round of sales. ProBotic will be listed for sale soon. Members are allowed to bid first before going to the public. We have options to upgrade at $2,300 that would basically give us an AltMill without getting a new one at $7,000 but there is a lot of DIY involved. Goal is to decide at the next members meeting.

Eufy should be on its way, but we don’t have anything from the supplier because they are on New Year.

Roller attachment and laminator are here.

$500 donation from Men’s Club has arrived, covers most of the cost of the AED.

New Business:

We have the opportunity to increase our space is this building. The Officers voted on exploring subletting the new space and possibly tacking on a year. It is 1100 sq ft. We’d like to put all the woodworking equipment in to the new area and move the forge into the far room. We will have more room for the Clean area and more room for Thursday nights and classes. The area is behind the door by the CNC. The space is the mirror image of the current workshop. Gives us more room to build. The old group is looking at moving over the summer and their lease is thru Dec. Could be by the end of the year. We’d like to get started on working the financials.

Bill has posted a spreadsheet to Slack of the Wishlist with all the specs listed. X-Tool does not use Lightburn. Please provide feedback on next priority item in Slack. Please speak up with what you want to see. We have 8k left in the preapproved funds set aside for this.

We have the capability to get 16 inches of DTF at a very good price - we can get large design and use on an material. We are putting in an order - you must provide material and labor, but must purchase the DTF from the space. Large sweatshirt size is 5, front smaller image is $3. Please message Heather directly, she is keeping the order list.

Please make sure to clean up after yourself and take your trash out, just general reminders.