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Board recommends higher application fee and annual recertification for high‑voltage contractors
Summary
To reduce field rework and keep company contact and training data current, the board recommended raising the initial contractor application fee to $150, charging $100 per additional employee on new applications, and instituting an annual recertification (proposed $50 per employee). The recommendation was forwarded to city council.
A board member proposed and the board voted to recommend that the city council increase the initial contractor application fee and institute annual recertification for contractors who work on city underground/high‑voltage systems.
The proposal would raise the initial company application to $150 and charge $100 for each additional employee included in the original application. The board also recommended an annual recertification fee, proposed in the meeting at $50 per employee, to support a short refresher class, a certification test and an equipment walkthrough in the city yard. "We actually go up to a $150 for the company and a $100 on the additional employees," the presenting member said when describing the proposed fee structure.
Supporters said the program will help ensure contractors follow Hurricane's installation standards, weed out firms that no longer operate or have bad contact information, and reduce time staff spend correcting nonstandard work in the field. A board member cited a recent case where a resident could not reach a listed contractor because the phone and email were out of date.
The recommendation includes a policy that firms who fail to recertify by their certificate date would be removed from the active certified list (or placed on a suspended list until they reapply). The board emphasized the intent is to cover administrative costs rather than generate revenue: "That's it. We're just trying to cover our cost," the presenting member said.
The board approved forwarding the recommendation to city council by voice vote; the council will consider formal adoption and any ordinance changes needed to implement fees and a recertification schedule.
