Seth Johnson
The Gainesville City Commission voted 6-0 to remove Gainesville Regional Utilities’ (GRU) ability to access city rights-of-way without permission.
The change to the city’s ordinance passed during a Thursday meeting, and the item will need to return for a second and final vote before the change begins.
The ordinance currently allows GRU staff to access city rights-of-way whenever they need. Other utilities need to pull permits from the city for permission before working in the rights-of-way, and now GRU will need to ask for that same permission.
Brian Singleton, Gainesville’s public works director, said these permits allow city staff to ensure traffic continues safely around the work site and to conduct post-work reviews.
Singleton said GRU and public works have had an informal process up to now, and with the new GRU Authority, the rights-of-way process needs to move to a formal process like with other utilities.
Singleton said state statute requires governments to only charge the cost required to pull the permits and conduct the inspections. He said the city’s fees align with the state statutes along with Alachua County’s process.
He estimated that the cost to GRU would range between $250,000 to $500,000 annually.
At the GRU Authority’s Feb. 7 meeting, board members discussed the city’s move to change the ordinance.
General Manager Tony Cunningham said the Authority shouldn’t try to interfere with the city’s actions. He noted that GRU already pulls permits and pays the cost for work in Alachua County rights-of-way.
At that meeting, he anticipated a lower cost per year, between $150,000 and $250,000.
The rights-of-way ordinance is another way GRU and general government are formalizing their agreements following the creation of the GRU Authority, which took control of the utility from the City Commission.
Singleton said he anticipates more time and costs for public works when the ordinance is finalized. He said public works will likely ask for another position to help, but the costs would be covered by the fees GRU would pay.
At Thursday’s meeting, the City Commission also voted to contract design services to Kimly Horn and Associates. The company will work on plans for permitting and construction administration for the project to add pickleball courts at Tom Petty Park.
The plans will return to the City Commission for approval.