Orange County signals support for FGUA to explore acquisition of Wedgefield system; no formal takeover approved

The Orange County Board of County Commissioners on July 15 gave staff consensus to pursue a nonbinding path for the Florida Governmental Utilities Authority (FGUA) to explore acquisition of the Plurist-owned Wedgefield water and wastewater system, a move residents described as the most viable way to stabilize rates and address long-running service and infrastructure problems.

Background and residents' concerns: Wedgefield residents have pressed the county for years over chronically failing water quality, frequent service interruptions and very high bills. During the July 15 meeting dozens of residents described repeated outages, poor customer service and long-term deferred maintenance by the current private owner. Plurist'owned utilities serve roughly 1,766 parcels in the effected polygons; residents pay rates that county staff said have been on average far higher than comparable county rates.