Right now I think we're using more like the maximum of power: 3 big and 3 small AC units, and 4 fridges running much more than usual (hard to guess - 3x, 5x?) to cool themselves down when it was so hot in the space. In the winter we'd only be using heaters, and with re-distribution of the server/elec room heat I think we'd find ourselves pretty warm.
On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 5:30 PM, Michael Loney <[email protected]> wrote: > Not to be a stick in the mud... > > TL;DR > Spend in g money on a bill that is not ours is a bad move. > This definitely needs a vote to pass. > The gas bill has not verified yet. It may be more than we budgeted > for. > > When we signed the lease the landlord was aware that we would be using > some average amount power and included it in the lease anyway. While being > the nice people we are, if we start paying an extra $250 /mo for rent it > will start to affect everything we do, renovations, events, projects, etc. > The lease is only for 3 years and if we start paying now then if we renew > the rent will be much higher and the power will not be included anymore. We > have all done the calculations to death and determined we are not using 'too > much' power but we are closer to the average for the floor area. Remco is > not a new company, they probably have charts of typical power usage based on > floor space vs function ( office, warehouse, etc) and they still convinced > Marvin to sign it. > > If they did not do their homework on the deal then why should we be > paying for their mistake? I agree with reducing our usage as best we can by > putting timers on the A/C units to reduce the ON time but I think the lights > on Assent Works side have to be on for the insurance policy to be in place > (Mike please correct me if I am wrong) Currently we are using a minimum of > power and in the winter as the space gets more active, the power bill will > simply increase and we will be back at the table with the same problem > again. Also we need to anticipate the gas bill in the coming months before > promising any other payments. > > I know we have the 6 month clause and it was decided not to put any > provisos in place to prevent this exact thing from happening. They have all > the power in this situation. I don't want to see us lose the space over this > ( I put a lot of blood sweat and tears into it! ) But bending to the > landlord over a problem that is 100% on them ( and Remco ) will just keep us > on the short end of the stick for at least the next 3 years. > > I know time is short before the meeting with the landlord but I don't > think we can simply have an quick executive decision on this one as it is > not an emergency. Agreeing to pay more will extend our time to completion on > renovations for sure and set a bad precedence for future situations. > > All that said, I know Assent Works has much, much more invested than we > do and to maintain a partnership with them we need to be supportive. > > G Mike > > > On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 3:40 PM, Jay Smith <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Sounds good. $250, or 60% of the bill, is a sane maximum in my opinion. If >> 60% of our bill ever turns out to be more than $250, we're doing something >> wrong. >> >> >> On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 3:37 PM, Justin Lacko <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> We will be arguing for a percentage. $250 extra is the max we will go >>> if it comes to it. >>> >>> This is an excellent observation and will work well in the >>> discussions. Yes, 800-850 is combined. >>> >>> On 24 August 2012 15:34, Jay Smith <[email protected]> wrote: >>> > We can afford it. >>> > >>> > Am I correct in assuming $800-$850/mo is skullspace's and assentworks's >>> > combined charge? >>> > Have you and Mike considered offering to pay a percentage of the bill >>> > rather >>> > than a fixed rate? >>> > >>> > If my assumptions are correct, we're now offering to pay 60% of our >>> > usage. >>> > If we go through with our 1/3 reduction plans, we will be paying 90% of >>> > the >>> > bill. This seems high. >>> > >>> > >>> > On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 3:11 PM, Andrew Orr <[email protected]> >>> > wrote: >>> >> >>> >> How many members do we even have? I know there's been a few people who >>> >> have left recently. Can we even afford this with our current >>> >> membership and >>> >> the budget we worked out? >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 3:06 PM, Ron <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> I personally have no problem with you making the offer, provided Jay >>> >>> says it's a reasonable commitment financially. >>> >>> >>> >>> Ron >>> >>> >>> >>> On 2012-08-24 14:24, Justin Lacko wrote: >>> >>> > This is an important follow-up to earlier discussions involving the >>> >>> > cost of electrical on our floor. >>> >>> > >>> >>> > As you may know, Mike Legary and myself are meeting with Marvin, >>> >>> > our >>> >>> > landlord on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the electrical bills. >>> >>> > Today I >>> >>> > received the most recent electrical bill (we are billed monthly) >>> >>> > which >>> >>> > came in at around $1100. This bill includes cre8ery's usage, plus >>> >>> > public building usage (garage lights, etc). Today Mike Legary also >>> >>> > had >>> >>> > an electrician come and accurately measure our power usage on the >>> >>> > floor. The results are that with AW running its lights always and >>> >>> > regular use of their equipment, they are consuming roughly the same >>> >>> > amount of electricity as SkullSpace is, which is 36A per group (36A >>> >>> > SkSp, 36A AW). Our rough estimated electrical bills has been >>> >>> > calculated at $800-$850/mo. at peak use. >>> >>> > >>> >>> > What all of this means in the simplest terms is that the landlord >>> >>> > is >>> >>> > losing money on our lease, which is not good. This would very >>> >>> > easily >>> >>> > be a good reason to terminate our lease. Mike Legary estimated the >>> >>> > landlord currently making $0.50/sq. ft. on the space, and with >>> >>> > taxes >>> >>> > at $0.70/sq. ft., which results in negative profit. In the upcoming >>> >>> > meeting, the landlord will almost certainly be asking for a >>> >>> > reduction >>> >>> > of our usage. >>> >>> > >>> >>> > The suggestion that we will be making on Tuesday's meeting is that >>> >>> > SkSp & AW will pay for a certain portion of the electrical in order >>> >>> > to >>> >>> > alleviate the problem of the landlord losing money. Don't forget >>> >>> > that >>> >>> > our lease has a 6-month clause which means that the landlord could >>> >>> > terminate on us at any time. Our max offered contribution towards >>> >>> > the >>> >>> > electrical bill will be $250/mo. per group, meaning a $500 >>> >>> > contribution from the floor. Again, we are doing this so that we >>> >>> > appear as the "good guys" who are recognising that the landlord is >>> >>> > not >>> >>> > making money on us, and primarily we are doing this so that we >>> >>> > don't >>> >>> > lose our lease. AssentWorks has already agreed to this amount, and >>> >>> > we >>> >>> > need SkullSpace to be on board by Monday so that we can take this >>> >>> > offer to the meeting on Tuesday. If SkullSpace does not agree to >>> >>> > this >>> >>> > and AssentWorks does, not only will it look bad on our part when >>> >>> > talking to the landlord, but it will almost certainly result in the >>> >>> > loss of our lease. The other added part to this agreement is for >>> >>> > both >>> >>> > sides to reduce electrical consumption by 1/3 (the amount we will >>> >>> > bring to the table). This isn't as hard as it sounds; we have old >>> >>> > lighting taking up double the power of new lights; and lighting >>> >>> > could >>> >>> > be put on motion sensors as AssentWorks will be doing. We could >>> >>> > also >>> >>> > properly ventilate our server room which will result in reduced >>> >>> > workload on the machines and save us money. >>> >>> > >>> >>> > Unfortunately this issue is not one that can wait for a formal >>> >>> > meeting >>> >>> > vote by members; Mike Legary and I need to go into this as being on >>> >>> > the same page in order to present a concerted response. Part of our >>> >>> > discussions will also focus on increased electrical due to the >>> >>> > landlord's decision to install space heaters, bad windows, etc. >>> >>> > etc. >>> >>> > Mike and I will work hard for SkSp and AW to bargain as best as we >>> >>> > can >>> >>> > in this process and also ensure that our upcoming electrical plans >>> >>> > do >>> >>> > not render these discussions moot. >>> >>> > >>> >>> > I will try my best to answer all questions pertaining to this as >>> >>> > best >>> >>> > as I can. >>> >>> > >>> >>> > Thanks, >>> >>> > Justin >>> >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> >>> > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >>> >>> > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >>> >>> > Archive: >>> >>> > https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> >>> SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >>> >>> Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >>> >>> Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >>> >> SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >>> >> Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >>> >> Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >>> > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >>> > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >>> _______________________________________________ >>> SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >>> Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >>> Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List >> Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss >> Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ _______________________________________________ SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/
