Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority

Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority MINUTES February 12, 2025, 5:30 p.m. GRU Administration Building 301 SE 4th Avenue Gainesville, FL 32601 Members Present: Craig Carter, Vice-Chair Haslam, Jack Jacobs, Chair Lawson, Robert Skinner _____________________________________________________________________ A. CALL TO ORDER B. ROLL CALL C. INVOCATION Director Craig Carter led the invocation D. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Board led the room in the Pledge of Allegiance E. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA Motion Passes. Moved by Craig Carter Seconded by Robert Skinner Public Comment: Kristen Bryant - PRR Policy G-5 F. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Craig Carter Seconded by Jack Jacobs Approved 1 G. CHAIR COMMENTS Chair Lawson has no comments. Vice Chair Haslam spoke to the lawsuit. H. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT Additional Public comment: Jim Konish, Anthony Johnson Public Comment: Donald Shepherd, Syed m Haider, Chris Russell, Angela Casteel, Tana Silva, Chuck Ross, Marshall Clayton Ralston, Rainy Eagle-Glenn I. CONSENT AGENDA 1. 2025-101 Paul C. Jones v. City of Gainesville; Case No. 2024-CA-771; Eighth Judicial Circuit in and for Alachua County, Florida. (NB) Recommended Motion: The Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority 1) approve the terms of the settlement reached during negotiations in court- ordered mediation; and 2) authorize the City Attorney to settle the claim of Paul C. Jones v. City of Gainesville; Case No. 2024-CA-771; Eighth Judicial Circuit, in and for Alachua County, Florida. 2. 2025-102 People Policies (B) Recommended Motion: GRUA approve the People Policies as presented. J. CEO COMMENTS CEO Bielarski spoke to the concerns raised during public comment. Director Carter also interjected a response to some public comments CEO presented slide, "Residential Basket of Services", for the public, Directors made comments in regard to the presentation. K. ATTORNEY COMMENTS Attorneys S. Scott Walker, Esq. and Kiersten Ballou gave an update of the April 2nd for judgement concerning validity of Referendum - Motion for Summary Judgement. L. BUSINESS DISCUSSION ITEMS 1. 2025-104 December 2024 Financial Position (B) GRU's Finance Director, Mark Benton, spoke to the presentation. CEO Bielarski spoke to the Debt Reduction, concerning the GFT (General Fund Transfer.) Director Carter spoke to the debt level and the need to work on reducing that. 2  Recommended Motion: Informational item only. 2. 2025-105 State of the Utility FY25 December (B) COO, Tom Brown, spoke to the State of the Utility Report from the Operational Areas, giving highlights of said report. Director Carter questioned the Kelly Plant planned outage. Vice Chair Haslam questioned how the accident numbers are calculated, COO confirmed contractor injuries are not included in the accident count. Directors Skinner and Haslam interested in seeing the number of disconnects in the State of the Utility Report, not to include those customers that are transient (if possible). Recommended Motion: The GRU Authority hear a monthly update from the utility‘s operational areas. 3. 2025-110 Liquidity and Reserve Metrics (B) Finance Director, Mark Benton, gave presentation to the item and answered questions as they arose. Recommended Motion: Informational item only. M. RESOLUTIONS (Roll Call Required) Moved by Craig Carter Seconded by Robert Skinner Public Comment: Chuck Ross, Donald Shepherd Director Carter pointed out the correct Resolution number should be 2025-106 and not 2024-106. Approved as Recommended 1. 2025-106 Resolution of the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority, a unit of city government of the City of Gainesville, Florida approving the execution, delivery and performance of one or more natural gas supply agreements with Municipal Gas Authority Recommended Motion: GRUA adopt the proposed resolution authorizing participation in a natural gas prepayment transaction between the Gas Authority and TD Bank. 3 N. DIRECTOR COMMENTS Director Skinner made comments to the public regarding use of funds and any misinformation and confirmed the code of ethics regarding GRUA agenda item discussion outside of the monthly meetings. Director Carter made comments to the public and thanked all the GRU staff. Vice Chair Haslam made comments to the public and addressed citizen comment. Thanked staff for their presence at the meeting tonight. Gave praise from a citizen regarding gas department and their expeditious services. Director Jacobs gave a response to public comment regarding the addition of fluoride in the public water supply. Chair Lawson - Concurred with everything said by each Board member. O. ADJOURNMENT Chair Lawson adjourned the meeting at 7:17PM. _________________________ Tracie Osteen, Executive Assistant Senior Raquel Lopez, Executive Assistant Senior 4