[Tom Line]

Before anyone jumps the gun - who is telling you that, and how are they telling you that. Are they venue officials or FIRST officials?

In addition, I will point out that this is hardly unique. Two years ago at the Kettering district our row in the pits (and ONLY our row in the pits) was told we were not allowed to use any power tools because our circuit was not high enough capacity. At the same time, the pit rows in front and behind us were happing grinding / cutting / sawing away.

Rule 4.9.8, Section 4 of the administrative manual explicity allows the tools you mentioned, however, I'm guessing that the venue rules over ride - they have in the past. In which case, every team will be in the same situation. Unfortunately, that ANY venue rule (which is likely driven by safety or liability reasons) is going to override a FIRST rule. The real question is whether FIRST vetted the location and was told you could use the tools or not.

In short, getting excited isn't going to help much. I wouldn't like the situation either, but I think immediately contacting FIRST HQ or going through the official FIRST rep on site will be the quickest way to get it resolved. I wish you luck!