Update: This story has been updated to reflect GRU’s intentions if the Gainesville City Commission fails to agree to the request to repeal its new rights-of-way policy.

The Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority will discuss a series of resolutions on Wednesday that call for the removal of a November referendum, the creation of an independent attorney position and ask the Gainesville City Commission to repeal an ordinance from March.

Also on Wednesday, the authority will welcome Jack Jacobs as the newest GRU director—the new term used instead of board member. Jacobs was selected by Gov. Ron DeSantis to fill the final slot on the authority, left vacant when GRU General Manager Ed Bielarski resigned to take his current position.  

The meeting agenda has already drawn criticism from Let The Voters Decide, a newly formed political organization against GRU Authority control. The organization, sharing offices and personnel with the Alachua County Labor Coalition, sent an alert warning that it “opposes the unprecedented, undemocratic power grab by the GRU Authority expected at tomorrow’s meeting.” 

One resolution will officially separate GRU from the legal direction of the Gainesville city attorney, appointed and reporting to the City Commission. The GRU Authority, both current and past, have wrestled with the idea of getting legal advice from an attorney it says serves the City Commission.  

Early in 2024, the GRU Authority hired Folds and Walker as its legal counsel. The new resolution would create a utility attorney position that represents both GRU and the authority.  

Another resolution requests the reinstatement of the former policy concerning GRU access to Gainesville’s right-of-way. If passed, GRU would send the resolution and relevant state laws to the City Commission to consider. 

However, Bielarski told Mainstreet that GRU will adhere to its resolutions where they conflict with city policy. Meaning, if the City Commission doesn’t repeal the new right-of-way policy, GRU will ignore it and follow GRU Authority direction as stated in the resolutions. 

When utilities or other entities want to access the Gainesville right-of-way, they need to ask for a permit from the city. However, GRU has always been exempt from this policy since it is a part of the city.  

“The ordinance is clearly punitive to the creation of a new governing entity, the GRUA,” the backup documents read. 

In March, the Gainesville City Commission decided to enforce the policy on GRU as well. Brian Singleton, public works director, said the process needs to be formalized since the utility now sits under the authority’s directors instead of the city’s commissioners.  

At the time, the GRU Authority directors discussed the change and former General Manager Tony Cunningham recommended not trying to fight it. The utility, he noted, already pulls permits to access the Alachua County right-of-way, and he said the new policy would cost the utility less than half a million dollars annually.  

Now under Bielarski, the utility is seeking to keep the status quo. Wednesday’s agenda shows GRU now estimates the fiscal impact to be $650,000 annually plus $150,000 for software improvements to manage the workload. 

GRU lists legal reasons why the policy should remain the same, including that the utility has accessed the right-of-way for 100 years without permits.  

The resolution also points to Florida Statutes Section 337.401. The GRU backup documents say this section on the use of rights-of-way doesn’t provide a way for the city to impose permits on itself—since the utility is still a city department though governed by a separate authority.  

Let The Voters Decide criticized the resolution but failed to mention that it tries to keep the status quo.  

“The GRU Authority rewrite exempts the GRU Authority from permitting laws, giving the GRU Authority broad power to do as they please on city-owned infrastructure without alerting the City,” the organization said in a press release. 

The resolution before the authority also asks the City Commission to repeal the new policy. But as Bielarski said, if the commission decides not to repeal, GRU will follow the resolution to access rights-of-way. 

A third resolution requests the removal of the November referendum initiated by the City Commission. If passed, the GRU directors would ask that the ordinances that created the referendum “are each rescinded and revoked in full.” An action the City Commission would decide to take. 

The GRU Authority and its lawyers have said that the referendum is illegal—a message previously communicated to the city. 

“This is a huge power grab,” Let The Voters Decide said. “Not only is this governor-appointed GRU Authority in control of the city’s water and electricity, but they’re now asserting they have sweeping powers to overrule and rewrite city laws whenever they please. It’s an incredibly aggressive, baffling action that leaves our city in a charter crisis.” 

The GRU Authority lawyers have said legal action might be necessary to stop the referendum—a question placed on the November ballot to ask city voters whether to place control of the utility back under the City Commission. 

How GRU would move forward if the city refuses to stop the referendum, a likely outcome, remains unclear.  

Also, on Wednesday’s agenda, the GRU Authority will vote on a $4 million infrastructure project to improve the sanitary sewer force main along SW 24th Avenue.  

Another item would finalize a change requested by the authority earlier this year. The resolution directs GRU to stop applying a 25% surcharge on water and wastewater connections to utility customers who live outside Gainesville city limits.  

In the past, the surcharge funds were sent to the general city government for its ConnectFree program.  

Editor’s note: The GRU Authority has switched to calling members “directors” in all communications instead of “board members” as used in the past. Starting with this story, Mainstreet will use the term “directors” to match GRU and avoid confusion.