Electrical Commission

1 APPROVED 2 3 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE ELECTRICAL COMMISSION 4 VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 5 COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 6 January 8, 2014 7 8 Commissioners Present (6) 9 Rick Jamerson, Chairman, Village of Northbrook 10 Robert Boiko, Commissioner, Village of Northbrook 11 Kevin Frangiamore, Director, Fire Prevention Bureau, Village of Northbrook 12 Mark Nolan, Fire Chief, Village of Northbrook 13 Dennis Lauer, Commissioner 14 Bernard Petchenik, Commissioner 15 16 Village Staff Present (2) 17 Corey Friedman, Electrical Inspector 18 Lori McLeod, Recorder 19 20 Others Present (7) 21 Brian Pawlik – Morningside 22 Stephen Richards, Architect, HKM Architects 23 Karl Streitenfeld, Engineer, WT Engineering 24 Harry Ohde, Assistant Director, E.J. ATT 25 Tim Arendt, Chief Electrical Inspector, City of Chicago, Retired. 26 Don Finn, Local 134 BA 27 Tony Laporte, Local 134 28 29 30 1. Call to Order 31 Chairperson Jamerson called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane, at 32 5:35 p.m. 33 34 2. Review of Minutes 35 In the review of minutes for the meeting held on December 11, 2013 meeting the following changes will 36 need to be made: 37  All instances of “McCable” should be “MC cable” within the document 38 39 Rick Jamerson moved, seconded by Mark Nolan, to approve the December 11, 2013 minutes for the 40 Electrical Commission meeting without corrections. On a voice vote, the motion was unanimously carried. 41 42 3. Hear from Audience 43 There was nothing heard from the audience. 44  Page 2 Minutes of the January 8, 2014 Electrical Commission Meeting 1 4. Continuation of consideration for the use of MC cabling and aluminum wiring by the proposed 9 story 2 apartment complex on Skokie Boulevard. 3 4 Brian Pawlik from Morningside was requesting the Commission to allow the use of MC cable size #10 5 and smaller subject to the following conditions: 6 a. Public Areas 7 1. Conduit shall be utilized in all stairways and exterior areas where exposed surface 8 mounting is required. 9 2. Multi-circuit runs shall be installed utilizing MC cable. 10 3. Emergency multi-circuit home runs shall be installed utilizing MC cable. 11 4. MC cable shall be used for one and two circuit feeds to various devices such as receptacles 12 and switches. 13 5. MC cable shall be used for one and two circuit feeds to various emergency devices such as 14 receptacles, switches, and light fixtures. 15 6. Sub-feeds within the residential corridor ceilings shall be installed in the 2 inch tall wire 16 basket system. 17 18 b. Apartment Units 19 1. MC cable shall be used in walls and ceiling spaces to feed receptacles, switches, and light 20 fixtures. 21 22 23 Bob Boiko has tried to look up price on this MC Cable however they discussed the 24 difference of conduit to MC cable to understand the $500,000 in savings. It was pointed 25 out that it is not the Electrical Commission’s responsibility to determine costs. However, 26 after reviewing the Sunset Ridge Senior Housing development some members were not 27 impressed with the workmanship. It was mentioned that the Northbrook workmen do not 28 have the experience with the material of MC cable. 29 30 Mark Nolan, the Fire Chief, acknowledged that although the savings has to be considered, 31 he does not think a high rise building should be using flexible cable. A 20 foot whip could 32 drop down and come across and hurt a fireman is just one additional item the Fire Dept. 33 would have to worry about. 34 35 Tim Arendt, a retired electrician submitted a report called Home Electrical Fires Fact Sheet. 36 He summarized this report by highlighting a few key points: 37 38  U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 47,820 U.S. home structure fires 39 involving electrical failure in 2007 – 2011. UL conducted a forensic study as to why 40 there were so many electrical fires if we have such a good electrical codes. But it is a 41 minimum code. There are currently 6 or 7 wiring methods. 42  There are cable systems and raceway systems. He has been an electrical safety 43 inspector for the city of Chicago for all of his life. In Northbrook, you have 5 times 44 lower rate of electrical fires because Northbrook does not allow the other ways of 45 wiring methods. In his opinion, the raceway system is the reason that 46 Northbrook has fewer electrical fires.  Page 3 Minutes of the January 8, 2014 Electrical Commission Meeting 1  Mr. Arendt contends that a metal raceway is a viable method for reducing 2 residential fires and minimizing the negative effects form aged conductors. 3 4 Bob Boiko made a motion, seconded by Bernard Petchenik to allow the use of MC cable 5 sized #10 and smaller in public areas and within the apartment units. On a voice vote, the 6 motion was voted down. 7 8 Morningside was also requesting approval for the use of Alcan Stabiloy aluminum cable for 9 service/feeder and sub feed conductors sized #8 or greater subject to the several 10 conditions outlined in a letter dated January 7, 2014. Bob Boiko said that after exhaustive 11 research that in order to utilize Alcan you have to thermal image it 6 or 7 times. 12 13 Dennis Lauer mentioned that for large services, air conditioning loads for example, we need 14 to consider the torque. Corey Friedman mentioned that the Village will not have the 15 authority to go back in after the installation. For example, if three years from now we 16 adopt a new code and we may require maintenance be done. However, the building owner 17 can claim that they cannot afford to thermal image the cable. We do not have the breadth 18 of staff to ensure the longevity of the building. 19 20 Bob Boiko reminded us to ask: Is this inherently safer? Copper wire is very safe. He has 21 tested the aluminum test under extremes of heat and the option copper is the best. Chief 22 Nolan a motion, which Member Boiko seconded, to approve the use of Alcan Stabiloy 23 aluminum cable. On a voice vote the motion did not pass. 24 25 5. New Business 26 There was no new business 27 28 6. Old Business 29 There was no old business 30 31 7. Adjournment 32 There being no further business, Mark Nolan moved, seconded by Commissioner Boiko, to adjourn the meeting. 33 On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried, and the meeting adjourned at 6:28 p.m. 34 35 Respectfully submitted, 36 37 38 Lori McLeod 39 Recorder 40 41