FAIRHOPE, Ala. — It’s the end of an era.

The man who has kept Fairhope lights on for 34 years is retiring.

Fairhope Electric Superintendent Aaron Norris plans to retire next year.

“We have had 19 people apply for our position of electric superintendent,” said the city Human Resource Director Bryan Seibt. “The initial evaluation of the applications and resumes has begun, and Mayor Kant will begin reviewing them, probably the second week in January. We will try to begin interviews around Jan. 22, perhaps a little sooner.”

Seibt said that the period for applying for the position ended Dec. 14, and the starting salary for the job is between $95,000 and $110,000.

“Aaron is going to be difficult to replace,’’ Mayor Tim Kant said. “He basically built the system we have today.”

Kant said the position had been advertised throughout the Southeast in newspapers and trade publications, and that he hoped to have someone in the job by summer.

Norris started as the city electric superintendent on Oct. 1, 1973.

“It’s been a challenge,” Norris said. “Fairhope’s system was 20 years behind when I came in.”

He said that he worked with the Troy, Ala., electric department for seven years before coming to Fairhope, and that it was his experience building substations there that led to his employment here.

“The system was in bad shape,” he said. “It could thunder in Mobile, and the lights would go out in Fairhope.”

Norris presented a report on the city’s system last week at a special meeting of the City Council.

“Overall, 2007 was a very positive and productive year for the electric department,” department employee Jeremy Morgan wrote in the report Norris presented. “It consisted of upgrading the electrical distribution system, installing new electric services, and maintaining reliable service all under a limited budget.”

Local customers gave Fairhope’s electric system high marks in a telephone survey conducted this year by the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority of which Fairhope is a member.

Residential customers of Fairhope Electric reported high overall satisfaction with service, problem resolution and the cost of electricity, the survey report stated.

Norris said the he would continue in the job probably until the fall during the new superintendent’s transition.

“This is not a job that you just walk into,” he said.

Norris said that it is possible he could also continue in a part-time status at that time if necessary.

“He took a system badly in need of repair and made it second to none,” Kant said.