October SCECA General Meeting

10/17/24

S.C.E.C.A. General Membership Meeting Minutes

There were approximately 30 members in attendance.  Those Officers and Board of Directors present were:  Rob Tschoke, Tom Orlando, David Kennedy, Ralph Lambiase, Mahesh Panchal, John Ricciardi, and Rob Szalay.

Excused: Joe Mikulas, Jack Morrell, and Mike Towers.

Called to Order:  7:16 p.m.

Rob Tschoke led the Pledge of Allegiance.  A motion to accept the General Meeting Minutes of 9/19/24 was made by Tom Thomas and seconded by Mahesh Panchal.

**President’s Report:

Rob T. reported on the first SCECA east meeting out in Revco.  It went very well and there was a good turnout.  There were 21 contractors there and Revco did not even advertise it.  The next meeting out easts will be in January.  Everyone is welcome to the meeting out east.  Revco is sponsoring all the food.  It was a short meeting – about 1 ½ and very good feedback.  Regarding the Energy Expo – please make an effort to come out to support the vendors.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: 

Treasurer’s Report:  Tom Orlando

Tom O. reported for the month ending September 2024 the income was $17,735.45 which is basically dues, newsletter and Energy Expo which is split half with NEL.  The expenses were $3,836.41, which are normal operating expenses.  The dues are now overdue at this point.  If you have not paid your dues, please pay.   According to the by-laws we have to drop you from membership in November if you have not paid by then, but we usually give you until December.  Our president Rob Tschoke who is membership chair is calling you if you have not paid your dues and encourages you to do so.  He is doing a great job of it.  We have the Expo coming up.  We are doing great and the partnership with NEL works well.  The food in the back is donated every month by N&S.  Almost $600 a month.  If you go in there say thank you to them or shoot Jonathon from N&S an email saying you appreciate it.  They have 4 locations – Huntington, Freeport, Bay Shore, and Mineola.  A motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report was made by Tom Thomas and seconded by John Ricciardi.

 Secretary’s Report:  David Kennedy

Dave reported if you call Jonathon tell him we would like to see him come to a meeting.  He can bring something interesting for us to see.  He recently installed one of those Leviton white panels from them and it is really nice and easy to install.  Regarding the SCECA east meeting, a little correction; we had 31 people in attendance.  Five were SCECA Board members, two were PSEG so we had 24 contractors at the meeting.  The discussions were great.  He has been fielding the phone calls to the office because Barbara is away, and it looks like a lot of people will be attending the Energy Expo.  So, show up and spend some time there.  A motion to accept the Secretary’s Report was made by Mahesh Panchal and seconded by Tom Thomas.

Legal Counsel:  Michael Ganz

Mike Ganz reported he usually puts articles in the “Light.”  If you have ideas for an article, call him.  Call or email him for any questions.  He will get back to you in a day or two.  Rob T. said Mike has been with us for a long time.  We appreciate him.  He called him and got back right away and helped him.  Dave also called him.  Dan Sherry said Mike also helped him a lot.  Mike says he usually does not charge for a phone call.

Insurance: Patti Muldoon from Borg & Borg,

Wally is retiring.  Patti was not present.  Tom O. commented regarding insurance, as president of his company he did not have to have workman’s comp. on himself.  Good thing he did because he got badly hurt from the fall.  The most he can collect is $2300 every two weeks.  But if he did not have that he would have thousands of dollars in hospital bills.  He is not broke because he has workman’s comp.

PROGRAMS:

 Sal CEO of SQ4D and inventor of the 3D house printer gave a presentation on the 3D house printer.  Eight years ago, he invented with two other guys (Bob and Mario who make 3D printers), a 3D printer to build houses.  It prints out concrete.  He builds full size houses.  By printing over 50% of a house using this 3D printer it brings a real savings to builders and homeowners.  His first experiment in 2018 was a 400 square foot house in the middle of his parking lot in Patchogue on main street.  In 2019 he built a 2,000 square foot house in Brookhaven.  Brookhaven and Patchogue Village never gave him approval.  Brad, Chief building inspector of Westhampton Beach saw the 3D printer on TV and gave permission to build one in Riverhead.  He built one – walls (outside and inside) only, temporary structure no plumbing or electricity.  Took about 3 months.  The walls are made of concrete – 3 ingredients only: Portland (type 1,2 or 3 – 30% or 28% Portland), sand and water.  You preprogram it with a G code, and it will print around rebar, windows, plumbing, electric, conduit, etc.  His 3D printer prints the footings, foundations wall, slab, interior and exterior walls.  They also can do a basement for a house.  A traditional house takes about 7 to 12 months to complete with 20 + people.  The roof is concrete with gutters but you could do a traditional frame.  Using SQ4D can complete a house in two to three months with 3 people.  This year 200 houses will be built with a 3D printer.  Next year 2,000.  In 2030 10% of all homes.  Houses made with a 3D printer are fire, flood, wind, and pest resistant.  There are reduced insurance costs for homeowners insurance, workers’ comp, general liability insurance and umbrella insurance.  He offers a 50-year guarantee on the house.  Their concrete is 9000 psi, and they do not use steel rebar.  They use fiberglass – anticorrosion, holds it form and weighs very little.  With 3D printing you have zero waste.  There is no need for a dumpster.  Whatever is left over they stucco a wall if necessary or fill forms up and make blocks and sell them.  They will be going public in the next 3 years.  He sells the house printer and 3 other items for $450,000.  He gets $5 per square foot which gets you a lifetime warranty and tech support.  A question-and-answer session followed.

By-Laws & Nominating:  Ralph Lambiase

Ralph read the second reading of the by-law changes.  All changes approved unanimously.

Education/Seminars:  Rob Szalay, Mahesh Panchal, Ralph Lambiase

Nothing to report.

Electrical Safety:  Robert Tschoke, Ralph Lambiase

Ralph reported on a safety product that prevents choking – ArixMed; you can also do it on yourself.  Label your disconnects.  It is very important.  Earplugs for heavy drilling – protect your hearing.  Use lockouts and tagouts for breakers for your safety.  Also, a semi-retired 69-year-old electrician from Huntington was working at a firehouse on a ladder in front of a door; he locked the door, but someone opened it, and he fell to his death.  Rich Jendzo said it was Rich Boccia.  He fell 26 feet and hit a filing cabinet and snapped his neck.  Rob T. said he wears goggles when working on a 4 ft fluorescent changing tube and he just touched it, and it exploded.  No glass got his in eyes because of his goggles.  Ralph added safety goggles are important and with extension ladders tie them off if it is windy.  Also, he read that if there is a renovation of a house and they are changing the main water line from copper to plastic, you have to reground that house because you are going to lose your ground.  It is happening a lot.  Keep that in mind.

 Entertainment:  Dave Kennedy, Scott Eastman, Mahesh Panchal

Dave had nothing to report at this time.

 Good & Welfare: Joe Mikulas

Joe was not present.  Rob T. reported John McGinn, past president, will be out for 2 weeks with kidney problems.  Member Brian McAuliff who helped us with marketing is a grandfather again.

Inspection Agencies: 

 Certified Electrical Inspectors: #896-A   Rob Ceriello was present.  Nothing to report.

East End Inspection Agency:  #1193-A Ed Seltenreich was not present.

EII: NYBFU:  #1109-A Philip Goehring was present and Rich Jendzo was present.  Nothing to report.

Suffolk Bureau of Electrical Insp.: #856-A Gene Surdi was not present.

Southampton Town:  Ron Linsalato was not present.

Alliance Electrical Inspect.  Ltd.: Michael Dumitru was not present.

Licensing: Michael Towers, Jack Morrell, Rob Szalay

Michael and Jack were not present.

 PSEG Representatives:  Joe Mikulas, Jack Morrell, Rob Szalay

Rich Inserra reported they are still short on 400-amp service and above current transformers.  It is getting better.  We had some come in last week and this week.  Another shipment at the end of the month.  Secondary riser fees are going up.  It will be instituted in January.  There will be a three-year phase in period.  The Red Book is being revised.  If you need anything revised let us know.  The Red Book is available online and they will probably be printing it.  After 2025 they will not print it out anymore.  Also, they have connectors in the back.

 Membership/Plaques & Awards, Skills USA:  Robert Tschoke, Brian McAuliff, /Jack Morrell

Rob T. called up the 5 new members:  #1257 Brian Duffy of BD Electric in Bellmore, #1259-C Harjinder Singh of Singh Electrical Contractors in Central Islip, #1261-C Conroy Simpson of ACS Electrical Corp. in Hempstead, #1212-C Michael Richter of Aztec Energy Group in Brentwood, #1262-C Kenneth Nilsen of KC Nilsen Electrical in Ronkonkoma, #1263-C Gregory Celi, Jr. of Celi Electrical Lighting Inc. in Westhampton.

Dave swore in Kenneth Nilsen and Gregory Celi as members.  They were given their packets and their picture for the “Light” was taken.  The rest will be mailed their packets.

Nassau Electric League:  Mahesh Panchal, Ralph Lambiase, Tom Orlando

 Matteo Gaudio, President of NEL, reported the NEL has their meetings on the 2^nd Wednesday of every month at the Knights of Columbus in Hicksville on Heights Place.  Just like SCECA the NEL promotes education, safety, and awareness in our industry.  Anyone is welcome to join.  One of the things we are having problems with is the house flippers using unlicensed guys doing work and taking work away from us.  They hire us to do a service and then do the rest of the work themselves.  It is unsafe.  We have an unlicensed task force committee he, Phil Zuardi, Andrew Popkin, Bobby Renzy and Anthony Segarra who is the chairman of it.  He set up meetings with the three townships in Nassau County.  We had a meeting with the commissioner of the Town of Hempstead two years ago, but he just retired so now we have to have a meeting with the new guy.  The Town of Oyster Bay just got a new commissioner – Angelo Delligatti.  He is on point, and he is aware of the problems with electrical and plumbing.  We also met with the Deputy Commissioner two weeks ago – Timothy Zike.  They have a hotline that we will put in our next bulletin, and we will share with SCECA.  You call the hotline if you suspect unlicensed work being done without a permit.  They will respond within 24 hours.   Town of Oyster Bay building department sent out a letter that you cannot farm your license.  If caught you will be fined or lose your license.  What’s happening is the result of us pressuring them about problems with unlicensed work.  One member suggested fining the homeowner to stop it.  Matt said in Nassau there are a lot of little villages, and they go out with code enforcement guys.  A discussion ensued.  Matteo said he was a neighbor of a father and son who got electrocuted in their pool – 90 volts.  What they found is the pool motor grounding neutral was reversed so there was current going into the ground system.  It was like that for years, but a pool light was put in recently so then there was a ground path going into the pool when the motor was running.  Nobody was held accountable for that.  He wants to promote pool safety and have pool safety inspections done.  This is something on which we are working.  Rob T. said we want to educate the public.  We want SCECA on News 12.

IAEI: (Independent Alliance for the Electrical Industry) Mahesh Panchal, Ralph Lambiase, Tom Orlando

Mahesh reported they went over code.

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS: (Rob Szalay, Brian McAuliff – Co-chairs, and Jack Morrell)

Joe Mikulas, Editor – “Light,”

Joe was not present.

 Energy Expo:  Rob Szalay, Jack Morrell, Dave Kennedy

 Rob announced the Energy Expo is next Wednesday.  The time says 2 pm but you can get there earlier.  He encouraged members to attend and do a walk thru.  There are many vendors there.  Dan Sherry asked when the seminars start.  Mahesh said the first one is 12:30 to 1:30. The second one is 2:45 to 3:45 on heating.  There is a third one from 4 pm to 5 pm.  There was an email sent out about it.

 Legislative Review:  Jack Morrell

Jack was not present.

Old Business: 

Nothing to report.

 New Business:

Rich Jendzo reported as of 2025 there will be no more code books printed.  You will only be able to get it online.  Or you can buy the Analysis that has the code and pictures.

Raffles:            

3 – $105 cash prizes were won by Wilian Sosa, Reynaldo Ortiz, and Phil O’Sullivan.

$100 attendance award was drawn for James Carrieri (#1096-C) who was not present to win.

A motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:29 p.m. was made by Dave Kennedy and seconded by Mahesh Panchal.

Respectfully submitted,

APPROVED BY:   

                                                                                                    11/19/2024

Barbara George                                                                      Dave Kennedy

Recording Secretary                                                             Secretary