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Applicant Ursula Bell asks board to allow reciprocity or testing; decision tabled
Summary
The Contractor Competency Board tabled an application from an out-of-state paving contractor after staff said the applicant lacked the required exam score or a reciprocity letter under city ordinance section 103-131. The applicant said her company has operated 38 years and asked for options to obtain reciprocity or testing.
Ursula Bell, who gave her address for the record, asked the Fort Pierce Contractor Competency Board on the record to allow reciprocity or to provide a path for an out-of-state paving specialist to meet local licensing requirements so she could pull permits for work already completed and for future projects.
Staff told the board the application for the specialty contractor category (presented as item 8(a) for Anthony Bell, Blackhawk Specialist Inc.) did not include a reciprocity letter or the required contractor competency exam score. Staff cited city ordinance section 103-131, which requires applicants to provide documentation — including proof of a passing score (70% or higher) on the required competency exam — filed by 5 p.m. on the Tuesday before a scheduled meeting. Staff said the ordinance contains no automatic exception for missing exam results and that the board could, at its discretion, approve or deny an application lacking documents.
“Most of these requirements are going away July 1,” staff said, but in the interim the ordinance requires either a passing exam result or a reciprocity letter from another jurisdiction. Staff advised that applicants can obtain reciprocity by securing a license in another Florida municipality that issues comparable specialty licenses and then providing a letter of reciprocity.
Bell, who said her company has been in business about 38 years and is registered to do business in Florida but is not licensed in the state, told the board she was willing to take any required tests but had struggled to find a jurisdiction offering the specialty paving exam. “We’ve registered with other cities and paid. We’ve been in business for over 38 years,” Bell said. She asked whether the city or another municipality could provide a temporary license or testing. “Would I be able to get a temporary license and then do the testing and then come back next month?” she asked.
Board members and staff discussed practical options: obtaining a reciprocal license by taking a test in another jurisdiction (staff named several jurisdictions that had offered exams in the past and two exam providers), asking a general contractor (listed on the after-the-fact permit as AJ General Contractors) to pull the permit, or tabling the application while the applicant obtains exam results or a reciprocity letter. Staff noted emergency executive orders that waive licensing only in narrow, hurricane-damage–related circumstances; those exceptions would not apply to routine commercial work.
Given the missing documentation, the board voted to table the specialty contractor application for roughly 30 days to allow the applicant time to secure exam results or a reciprocity letter. A board member said the applicant could provide an update a few days before the next meeting; if she provided test results in time the item could be rescheduled sooner. The board also encouraged reaching out directly to the general contractor identified on the after-the-fact permit as a potential short-term route to ensure permits are in place.
Next steps: the applicant will seek exam opportunities or a reciprocity letter and update staff before the next board meeting; the board will revisit the application at the rescheduled hearing if the required documentation is provided.
