Hudson reviews proposed fee increases, debates nonresident plumbing rules

Hudson officials reviewed proposed increases to the city’s fee schedule and debated changes to plumbing-permit rules and vendor rates during a fee-review meeting, where staff and committee members discussed next steps including contacting the mayor’s office and the treasurer for more information.

A staff member said Hudson currently charges a $300 nonresident application fee for a plumbing permit “good for 1 job,” and described how that rule interacts with the city’s lack of a current board of plumbers. The staff member added that licensed Hudson plumbers pay a $200 annual license fee and that the $300 nonresident charge effectively raises the total cost for some small jobs.

The discussion focused on options to ease the burden on residents who want to hire an out-of-town plumber until the city reconstitutes a board of plumbers. The staff member said one proposal would temporarily lower the nonresident per-job fee to $50 until the mayor’s office appoints a board, and recommended reducing the board membership requirement from five to three to make appointments easier. "There need a board of commerce has to be appointed," the staff member said about the next administrative step.

Committee members and staff also reviewed vendor and transient-merchant fees, with multiple participants suggesting a roughly 25% increase for some categories that have not been adjusted in more than a decade. The meeting record shows proposed changes such as raising the nonresident annual vendor fee from $400 to $500, increasing three-month resident rates from $75 to $90, and raising single-day or short-duration vendor fees by modest amounts. One committee member said the Farmers Market charges roughly $30 for a guest vendor day and noted market vendors operate on county property rather than city property.

Other fee items discussed included dog-license enforcement, vacancy-fee notice procedures, lodging-registration fees, banner permits, garbage-bag pricing and amusement-machine (arcade) fees. A staff member described dog-license late/impound charges and daily confinement fees, and committee members urged that vacancy fees be included on the treasurer’s monthly report so the board can track collections. "I think what we need is to get them to report to us on, notification and date the notification of that," a committee member said about vacancy enforcement.

On garbage-bag pricing, staff reviewed recent adjustments and confirmed current retail pack pricing that makes bulk five-packs roughly $2 per bag while single bags retail higher; the committee agreed to reflect the 2024 effective date for prior increases in the fee schedule draft. Banner-permit and street-banner charges were noted as candidates for modest increases to reflect labor costs for installation and removal.

Several members said they need follow-up from named officials to finalize proposed edits: staff will ask Treasurer Heather for collection details and reporting that would show whether the city has collected vendor, vacancy or event fees in recent years, and staff said they would draft a letter to the mayor’s office seeking action to reinstate or revise the board-of-plumbers process. "We can put a letter together to send to the mayor’s office," a staff member said.

The meeting closed with a motion to adjourn that was seconded and approved. Staff and committee members identified a set of follow-up questions and agreed to meet again after the treasurer and mayor’s office provide the requested details.