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Gainesville-area MPO moves governance, names HDR as planning lead as interlocal is updated
Summary
The Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization voted Dec. 2 to proceed with an updated interlocal agreement and transition oversight and staffing from the Regional Planning Council to a stand‑alone MTPO; HDR was introduced as the incoming planning consultant and the board set a process for small‑city representation.
The Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization for the Gainesville urbanized area voted Dec. 2 to begin implementing a governance transition that will reestablish the MTPO as a separate entity with an updated interlocal agreement and HDR serving as the planning consultant.
Commissioner Brian Eastman, who chaired the transition subcommittee, outlined the timeline and said staff are preparing an interlocal agreement that will name the City of Gainesville, Alachua County, the Gainesville Airport Authority, the school board and the Florida Department of Transportation as members. He invited Brad Thoburn of HDR to introduce himself; Thoburn said HDR will serve as policy and strategic planning lead during the transition and has already begun cataloguing the MTPO's documents. "My name is Brad Thoburn. I am with HDR Engineering...and I'm the policy and strategic planning lead for HDR," Thoburn said.
The draft interlocal updates a 2004 agreement to reflect new federal census boundaries and membership changes and will be routed to member organizations and legal counsel. Thoburn said one key outstanding question is how to include a rural small‑city representative; the draft leaves options open, either allowing small cities to nominate and the county to select or allowing a conferral process among the small cities. Board members agreed to solicit nominations from small cities by a chair letter while legal teams finalize the interlocal language.
The board also discussed administrative operations during the transition. Commissioners agreed that Alachua County's clerk will provide back‑office services — payroll, accounting and inclusion in the county audit — and that HDR will receive transferred documents and stand up a temporary website (interim label "ACGNV Mobility") during the transition. The board directed staff to return with finalized interlocal language and a process for collecting small‑city nominations.
The board voted to formalize the transition subcommittee membership and to proceed with drafting and circulating the interlocal for legal review and signature by member entities. The next step is circulation of the draft interlocal and return of recommended language for the MTPO to approve and sign.
What happens next: staff and legal counsel will circulate the interlocal to member entities for review and obtain signatures; HDR will continue onboarding and cataloguing documents, and the chair will send a letter soliciting small‑city nominations for the rural representative.
