Thanks for everyone who came out for the April CEA Meeting! There was a great turn out for Minnesota Elevator’s CET  Presentation on Roped Hydraulic Elevator Systems. A special thanks to Pat Tobin and Tom Hausenbauer for providing a very informative and technical presentation!  Remember those of you who attended and signed the CET roster will receive a certificate of training for .75 CET Hours.

Don’t miss next months meeting when we will have a representative from OSHA Present on some very important topics that should make us all safer in the work place.

Also discussed during this meeting was the upcoming EESF Cruise that will be held on June 25^th, 2008. Last years event raised $11,000 for the EESF and we’re shooting to help the EESF Raise even more. If you are a supplier please consider sponsoring the event and make sure you get your registration forms in early. Space is limited so make sure you put this on your to do list today.

 See everyone at next months meeting! This will be our last before the June EESF Cruise and the August Golf Outing! Come and share some good food, drink and some industry stories with a colleague!

Tom Jackson e-mailed an interesting article regarding the Village of Palatine’s position with elevator inspections in their village.  Basically they are stating that they have turned over elevator inspections to the state Fire Marshal which currently is under staffed in the elevator inspection department. A point that was made by Tom is whether or not more villages and townships will go this route.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming year as our state struggles with the new elevator code that has been adopted by the entire state of Illinois, except the city of Chicago. Thanks Tom for sharing this article.

Link To Scanned Article palatine.pdf

Palatine, IL – The Village Council has agreed to hand over elevator-inspection duties to the Illinois state fire marshal’s office.

New Illinois regulations call for more stringent inspections but give communities the choice of enforcing the rules or turning over inspections and enforcement to the state.

Under the regulations, about 65 of Palatine’s 162 elevators would need costly upgrades, Village Manager Reid Ottesen said at a council meeting Monday (December 15^th, 2007).  He said the work could cost $100,000 an elevator.

“We don’t want to get involved in the court costs and shutting down elevators that enforcing this would involve.”  He said.

Palatine now hires a contractor to do inspections and collects a fee from building owners that covers the village’s costs. – Jeff Borgardt – Chicago Tribune Columnist – December 2007 Article

Some Very Important News Regarding February’s CEA Meeting – Held Thursday February 7^th, 2008

The NAEC (National Association of Elevator Contractors) Education Committee has approved the CEA Continuing Education Application for the EMS Freight Door Installation session that will be presented at the February meeting at a value of .75 contact hours for CET.

I would like to thank CEA President, Gary Schreiber for processing the application so quickly and Patti Bonner, Educational Manager for the NAEC, for her help in preparing the applications and getting them approved!

We are also in the process of getting the presentations for both March and April approved as well! If you need CET Credits make sure you attend the meetings as they are an excellent opportunity to do so. Those who are in attendance for the meeting will receive a certificate which can be picked up at the March CEA meeting!

See you Thursday February 7^th! 

Tom Sybert – CEA Webmaster