Action cleans up city code on contractor bonds

Development Services Director Chris Henderson presented a bit of municipal housecleaning to the City Commission Monday night.

He said Ponca City requires contractors to be licensed, bonded and insured.

“Private individuals also must be insured and bonded to work in the right-of-way,” Henderson said. “When you do a project for the city, you must have a performance bond. A guy doing a driveway must be bonded with a permit bond, in accordance with codes.”

He said the ordinance he was presenting separates those two uses — there’s a performance bond for work done for the city, and a permit bond for a lesser amount —  $10,000 — for contractors doing a driveway or a plumber working in the right-of-way.

“We’ve never had to foreclose on a bond with the contractors hired by the city, and we’ve never had to go against any of those working on smaller jobs in the right-of-way, but we have had to make a few contractors go back and fix problems.”

Commissioners approved the change unanimously, along with the emergency clause which makes the permit bond effective immediately.