<body><div>The Mountain Home City Council will revisit a proposed ordinance updating the city’s electrical code during its Nov. 19 meeting after reading the proposal a second time earlier this month.The ordinance was initially introduced during the council’s Oct. 15 meeting and revisited Nov. 5. However, no action was taken to adopt the ordinance that night because not enough council members were present to suspend the rules and advance to a final reading.The proposed ordinance would adopt the 2026 National Electrical Code with Arkansas-specific amendments, replacing regulations established through ordinances adopted in 1997 and 2005. One of these contains what inspectors suggest might be a point of contention among new build homeowners.“One of the primary concerns among local contractors involves the installation of electrical receptacles in kitchen islands,” Mountain Home Building Inspector Clay Strain clarified at the meeting. “However, we intend to retain provisions from the 2020 code allowing electrical outlets in kitchen islands, an option that would not be permitted under the unamended 2026 code.”The proposed ordinance would also require ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) on outlets in a laundry room or utility room.“That is the biggest concern, but I haven’t had any comments about anything they didn’t like or anything negative,” he said.Councilmember Marshella Norell noted the proposed changes were partially driven by state requirements rather than solely a city initiative.“That’s correct,” Strain responded, explaining that the state had established what he believed to be a 90-day deadline for municipalities to adopt the updated regulations.“We had two options to adopt,” he said. “We had an option to either adopt the 2026 as a whole, NFPA 70, or we had the option to adopt the 2026 with Arkansas amendments.”He added the Arkansas amendments would allow contractors to continue installing receptacles in kitchen islands, while adopting the national code without those amendments would prohibit the installations.When asked about the possible approaching deadline, he responded that the state’s adoption deadline was expected sometime in December.In addition to the updated electrical standards, the proposed ordinance would require electrical contractors working within city limits to maintain a valid Arkansas license and obtain the necessary permits.Homeowners would still be allowed to perform electrical work on residences they own and occupy, provided they obtain a permit and have the work inspected.The ordinance also establishes inspection fees of $40 per inspection, with additional charges depending on the type of electrical installation. Violations would carry fines ranging from $100 to $200 per offense.If the ordinance is adopted at next week’s meeting, the effective date would be Dec. 20.</div></body>

Block Source: Baxter Bulletin

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

The Mountain Home City Council will revisit a proposed ordinance updating the city’s electrical code during its Nov. 19 meeting after reading the proposal a second time earlier this month. The ordinance was initially introduced during the council’s Oct. 15 meeting and revisited Nov. 5. However, no action was...

Mountain Home Council to revisit electrical code

NewsBreak

The Mountain Home City Council will revisit a proposed ordinance updating the city’s electrical code during its Nov. 19 meeting after reading the proposal 

Mountain Home Council to revisit electrical code

Comments