Ocala City Council approves contractors, grants and budget amendments in unanimous vote

Ocala City Council on Oct. 7, 2025 adopted a slate of contracts, grant agreements and budget amendments covering utility work, transit funding, capital purchases and an ordinance updating municipal solid waste collection rules. All recorded votes on the items summarized below were affirmative.

Why it matters: The approvals authorize more than $4 million in work and purchases, direct design changes for a major water treatment project, and accept state and federal transit and environmental funding that affect city operations, infrastructure and service delivery.

Among the items adopted by roll call vote:

- Ordinance 2025-41 (second reading & adoption). Councilmember Bethea moved adoption. The ordinance amends sections of the City of Ocala Code of Ordinances (sections cited in the council report) to provide further provisions on municipal solid-waste collection services including use of roll-off compactors and related codifier direction. Outcome: adopted (roll call: unanimous).

- Agreement with General Underground LLC for construction services on the Southeast 22nd Avenue force main reroute. Contract amount: $963,700; 10% contingency authorized for a total expenditure of $1,060,070. Staff recommended approval; City Engineer Sean Lanier presented. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Agreement with Marion Rock LLC for construction services on Lift Station No.127 Force Main Reroute Phase 1. Lowest responsive bidder; staff recommended approval. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Amendment No. 5 to the professional design services agreement for Water Treatment Plant No. 2 with Kimley‑Horn & Associates, Inc. (see separate article). Staff explained the amendment modifies design to allow an initial phase using the Upper Florida aquifer and to evaluate alternatives to membrane filtration after construction cost estimates sharply increased. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Grant agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for retrofit installation of nutrient-removing filtration media at Heritage Nature Conservancy ponds: $201,500. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Budget resolutions and hurricane-related budget corrections. The council adopted multiple budget amendments and resolutions to reflect grants and FY corrections related to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Purchase of 15 bus shelters from Tolar (Toller) Manufacturing: $227,065. Transit Administrator Tom Duncan said installations and site-specific construction will follow a separate solicitation; the shelters themselves were approved. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Acceptance of FDOT public transit grant (Sun Tran) and associated budget amendment: $796,934 (with city match discussed by staff). Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- One‑year renewal with NilSoft Utility Solutions, Inc. (outage reporting, outage management, IVR): estimated $107,100. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Multi‑award emergency oil‑spill response contract (three vendors) for cleanup services, not to exceed $150,000. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Five‑year contract with Granicus for redesign, implementation and hosting of city websites (migration to Granicus/OpenCities platform and implementation of Granicus Government Experience Agent): estimated $549,040. Director of IT Christopher Ramos presented the project as intended to modernize web presence and add an AI-enabled assistant. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Citywide IT equipment purchases (desktops, laptops, tablets, monitors): estimated $492,200. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Purchase of four replacement police vehicles via Sourcewell cooperative: $250,564. Fleet division head Lisa Warmoth presented. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

- Piggyback contract for roofing services (Big D Roofing Services Inc.) for an aggregate amount up to $500,000 to fund roof replacements across city properties. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

What council recorded: The roll call for most items recorded “aye” votes from the councilmembers present; no “no” votes or abstentions were recorded for these items in the meeting transcript.

Context and next steps: Staff said many of the capital purchases are tied to preexisting capital plans or to grant conditions; several projects (bus‑shelter installs, sink‑hole/force‑main construction) require follow‑on construction solicitations or permitting. For grants and state funding, staff noted matching or unfunded line‑items (for example, some GRAMa items exclude travel and training) and described internal budget adjustments. Several presentations indicated staff would return with more detailed implementation schedules as projects move from contracting to construction or installation.

Votes at a glance (select amounts and references): Ordinance 2025‑41 (municipal solid waste rules) — adopted; General Underground LLC force main — $963,700 (+10% contingency); Marion Rock LLC Lift Station No.127 — lowest bid, amount not restated in minutes; Kimley‑Horn amendment (WTP2) — design scope change after cost escalation (see separate article); FDOT Sun Tran grant — $796,934; Granicus website contract — $549,040; bus shelters — $227,065; police vehicles — $250,564; NilSoft renewal — $107,100; oil‑spill multi‑award — not to exceed $150,000; Big D Roofing piggyback — up to $500,000; DEP grant (Heritage ponds) — $201,500.

Council procedure: Staff presenters briefly summarized recommendations for approval; most items saw no public comment and were approved after roll call votes. Several items included clarifying remarks from staff about procurement timelines, bid dates and contract responsiveness.

Sources: City staff presentations and roll call votes recorded at the Oct. 7, 2025 Ocala City Council meeting.