GREEN RIVER — The Green River City Council heard from two professionals in the plumbing and energy industries Tuesday night regarding certification requirement for plumbers and HVAC contractors in Green River.
Lance Ball, CEO of Aspen Mountain Plumbing, showed the Council five photos, one of which showing a properly installed water heater, and the other four showing improperly installed water heaters throughout Green River homes.
“Obviously these are not up to code and are dumping carbon monoxide gases into the home which could create carbon monoxide poisoning which actually took place last year in March in Evanston,” Ball said.
Jeff Bybee, Manager of Region Operations for Dominion Energy, said he has been working on getting attention on this issue for the last three years.
“We’re trying to get some sort of certification process in place for plumbers and HVAC contractors,” Bybee said.
Bybee has been working with Western Wyoming Community College, and has been successful in setting up certification classes through the college. He said Utah state code states that any HVAC contractor or plumber must pass the Rocky Mountain Gas Association (RMGA) certification process to work in the state.
“We have RMGA certification tests set up with Western Wyoming Community College,” he said.
According to Bybee, RMGA recently had industry members such as plumbers and HVAC contractors meet to discuss RMGA certification. The industry members were asked if they would like to police themselves in regards to requiring certification.
“They’ve chosen not to, which kind of makes you concerned. If you know what you’re doing, why wouldn’t you want this certification process?” Bybee said.
He said that while there are several reputable plumbers and HVAC contractors, “it would be great if cities would make [certification] a requirement for a business license.”
Ball said that, “as it stands now in the City of Green River, to license a plumber basically just requires a contractor’s license and proof of insurance.”
“My concern is these are showing a lack of education in the trade of plumbing in general. And we’re starting to see a huge increase in this area in the last few years. It brings concern to me because this is people’s health and safety that we’re dealing with in the plumbing industry,” Ball said.
He added that Cheyenne, Casper, Gillette, Riverton, Jackson, Cody, and Kemmerer already require trade licenses be given to prove that plumbers have education on how to install water heaters.
My plea to you today would be that we consider this for the health and the safety of the individuals of Green River, a place that I love.
-Lance Ball, CEO of Aspen Mountain Plumbing
Councilman George Jost asked city staff whether they should be looking at more certifications for other industries. City Administrator Reed Clevenger said city staff just had a conversation about this issue this morning.
“I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, because we actually just went through pictures of wrong venting on a hot water heater in our department head meeting this morning,” Clevenger said. “We should have certifications on our general contracting licensing… That is definitely the way we are looking to move.”
Mayor Pete Rust said the Council and city staff would take this recommendation under advisement and see where it goes. He asked for Ball and Bybee to check back with the city.
