Minutes – Building Code Review Committee
5:00 PM, January 10, 2007
Meeting was called to order at 5:10 PM.
In attendance were Denny Blumberg, Susan Holden, Rich Gorazd and Dave Holtgrave and City Staff member Jeff Stehman, Jerry Koerkenmeier and Dan Bowman. Also in attendance was Aldermen Drolet.
Motion was made to approve minutes from the March 14, 2006 meeting by Holden, seconded by Blumberg. Motion passed.
The next item was hearing of an appeal by Lou Girdler, an architect from Paradigm Architects, representing First Bank who is building a new facility at W. Highway 50 and Greenmount Road. Stehman stated that they wish to appeal the provision of the City of O’Fallon Electrical Code that prohibits the use of aluminum wiring. Due to the fact that they want to mount the CT cabinet well away from the building, it will add a significant amount of copper feeders to comply with the city requirement.
Stehman stated that the only aluminum wiring allowed is what Ameren runs from the pole or transformer into the service panel (primary feeders). Girdler and other attendees representing his firm stated that the NEC allows such a run in aluminum and the problems of years ago with aluminum wiring have been corrected and larger cities such as Chicago and St. Louis have removed the ban of aluminum wiring. They presented additional written documentation and testimony.
Stehman stated that city staff still does not want to see aluminum wiring introduced into the building and branch circuits, but realizes that we currently allow it run into the service panel.
After much discussion between all sides of this issue and the committee, all parties agreed that putting a junction box outside the building and running services feeders to that box in aluminum and then copper into the service panel would be acceptable to the city and the applicant. Based on that agreement and the fact that it met the intent of the city electrical code, and decision on the appeal by the committee was not required.
Motion to adjourn by Gorazd, seconded by Holden at approximately 6:15 PM.
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Approved at 3/29/11 BCRC
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