If Team Update #16 was not rescinded, a communal drill press and band saw area would have been the best possible solution under the circumstances. But the most preferable option would still be to have the tools right in your pit, which is the way it was before Update 16, and apparently now as well.
This is the way the "system" has been run for many years, and for the most part teams (with the oversight of their safety captains) have managed themselves well. Teams know space is limited and teams know that cuttings and shavings add up, which is why they mark out special areas for the drill press/band saw in their pit, and bring small vacuum cleaners to the event to clean everything up.
(And besides, how would hand tools make any less shavings than drill presses or band saws? They both remove the exact same amount of material if the same cut/hole was made by each...
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The concerns that led to the ban in the first place (risk of injury, liability) are not going to simply vanish. There are some drawbacks to having bandsaws and drill presses in the pits. Pit space is very limited and working in cramped quarters creates added risk. These operations produce debris and noise - something we could use less of in the pits.
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Yes, it is true that there are some drawbacks to allowing drill presses and band saws in the pits. But as we saw with the Update #16 thread, the drawbacks of NOT having these tools in the pits far outnumbers of having them in the pits.
Regardless of whatever tool you are using in the pits, the risk of injury is more or less still elevated. If you worry about getting bumped while using a band saw, chances are you'd still get bumped if you were using a jigsaw. And chances are a jig saw would make a similar amount of noise as a band saw, so if noise reduction was a reason behind the original rule then it wouldn't make much sense.
The bottom line is that instead of FIRST mandating how teams should govern themselves in their pits, they should strive to teach teams about the possible risks associated with working in tight spaces in the pits, as well as ways to overcome them. In the end, let teams and their safety captains govern themselves.
Instead of banning these tools, let the mentors teach the students how to safely use them in the time and space constricted pit environment. (Which is 100% more productive and inspiring than telling students to walk over to the machine shop, hand the people working there a part, and having the finished part handed back to them!)