Storage and Disposal Policy

Disposal Policy (Approved at 2015-04 meeting)

Storage shall include a clearly labeled “Outgoing” shelf area and a clearly labeled “Trash” shelf area. The Outgoing area shall be considered closed to new items (and clearly labeled as such) at least 2 weeks prior to each monthly members' meeting and all items photographed and advertised to members at that time. Immediately following each monthly members' meeting, the Secretary shall coordinate the relabeling of Outgoing pile items as Trash. Members will thus have a minimum of 2 weeks to remove any items from Outgoing. Knowledgeable members are encouraged to establish and announce the fair market value of any high-value items in Outgoing.

Members may only take personal ownership of HacDC items in the Trash pile. Members may make arrangements with the Secretary to take possession of HacDC property as soon as it's moved to the Trash pile (following the monthly members meeting).

If the Trash shelving is near capacity, the Board may solicit bids for the chore of responsibly disposing of the entire Trash pile at a monthly members' meeting, up to the maximum of one monthly membership fee (currently $60). In the absence of a membership vote otherwise, the Board may only accept the lowest bid. The DC Department of Public Works offers a free, weekly electronics recycling drop-off service at the Benning Road Trash Transfer Station, 3200 Benning Road NE, each Saturday from 8 am to 3 pm (check website for updated hours).

In cases of emergency when storage shelving is full and access to work areas or the safety of members requires accelerated disposal of HacDC property, the Board of Directors may vote to document, declare and announce an Emergency Disposal Week and shorten the minimum advertisement period of Outgoing to 3 days for that week.

Storage Policy (Approved at 2015-04 meeting)

This policy shall take effect at the June 2015 members' meeting.

Whereas HacDC has a considerable cache of valuable tools, parts, items and materials but these are currently not inventoried and their availability, purpose, value and custody is unclear to most members. Whereas HacDC's current disposal policy asks individual members to decree items as “junk” for disposal, often without consensus, and a better policy would identify unwanted items by consensus rather than decree.

Custody of Basement Storage Areas

Basement storage areas will be divided into sections and each section clearly labeled with with either a member's name or a HacDC project name as a custodian. The custodian may also identify a backup custodian at her or his discretion. The custodian for each area is responsible for deciding what items may be stored there, what may be transferred to another custodian or moved to the Outgoing shelf. Approval of the custodian should be assured before items are added or removed from his or her area. The custodian shall be responsible for creating and updating an electronic inventory of all items in the storage they manage in a timely manner and transmitting that inventory to the Secretary. The inventory shall note whether the items are available as HacDC tools, tools on loan to HacDC (and owner's contact info), available as HacDC materials, or already assigned to a HacDC project. The custodians shall report the unauthorized removal or disappearance of items under their custody to the Board as soon as possible. Upon departure or resignation of a custodian, custody passes to the backup custodian designated, if any. Items in areas left with no designated custodian shall be advertised as available to members and, after 2 months, either returned to their owners (if on loan) or moved to the Outgoing shelves. Members are encouraged to propose projects to incorporate ongoing HacDC functions, such as Store, Museum, Servers, Raw Materials, etc. into this policy.

Assignment of Basement Storage to Custodians

Members and/or project POCs wishing to have custody of basement storage area should make a request to the Board including the dimensions of the area requested (e.g. 2x2x2 ft). If total space requested exceeds the total storage space, the Board will determine the least harmful reductions in the allocated spaces. Any reduction in the space previously allocated must give custodians 1 month notice. Temporary or permanent overruling of the Board's allocation decisions can be made by member vote. At least one storage space of 2x2x2 ft will be kept empty and made immediately available to new members who desire storage space.