Ocala City Council Nov. 17: A $10 Million Power-Cost Gap, $600,000 More for Sidewalks and New Turn Lanes on Maricamp

If Ocala Electric Utility sends you a bill, the most important item on the Ocala City Council's next agenda is about you. For the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2026, the city-owned utility collected $10,005,487 less from customers than it paid for power, and city staff are asking council to cover most of that gap from a reserve fund instead of changing rates right away. The vote is one of about 30 items on the agenda for Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026, at 4 p.m. in the second-floor council chambers at Ocala City Hall, 110 SE Watula Ave.

The same final agenda would end the city's little-used community solar program, add $600,000 to a sidewalk repair contract that has nearly run dry, pay for inspection of new turn lanes at State Road 464 and SE 25th Avenue, and accept $100,000 for street outreach to people experiencing homelessness. Everything below comes from the agenda and the staff reports attached to it. These are recommendations, not decisions, and the order of items can change at the meeting.

AI-generated illustration. Not a photo of the Ocala City Council chambers.

Covering a $10 million power bill without a rate change

Electric customers in the city pay a Power Cost Adjustment, the part of the bill that moves up and down with what the utility pays for electricity. The staff report says the city can adjust it monthly but has made only minimal changes to keep rates stable, and by Sept. 30 that left the utility $10,005,487 short.

Item 10g would take $7,000,000 from the utility's Rate Stabilization Reserve and carry the remaining $3,005,487 into the current fiscal year. Staff say this year's projected collections should absorb that $3 million and still end about $900,000 ahead by Sept. 30, 2027. The reserve would drop from about $27.1 million to $20.1 million, roughly 17 percent of the $119 million the city expects to spend on power this year, inside the 15 to 25 percent range set by city policy. Our full explainer is Ocala Taps $7 Million in Reserves to Keep Electric Bills Steady.

A second electric item sits on the consent agenda. Resolution 2027-7 (item 6a) would end the Community Solar Subscription Program, which opened in June 2020. Staff say about 1.17 percent of the city's 17-megawatt solar share was subscribed as of October, and existing subscribers would get 45 days' notice. We cover it in Ocala Moves to End Its Community Solar Program.

The sidewalk repair money ran short early

In August 2025, council hired Marion Rock, LLC for up to $600,000 of sidewalk and concrete repair work across the city, under a contract that runs to Aug. 5, 2027. Spending under it has already nearly reached that cap. According to the staff report, demand outran projections because several departments needed more repairs than expected.

Item 10c would add $600,000, raising the contract limit to $1.2 million. The examples staff list include Heather Trace and Fore Ranch sidewalk repairs, the pickleball courts at Jervey Gantt Park and Clyatt Park, sidewalk repairs for water service, and concrete projects at the city's WRF No. 2 water facility. The money would come from existing Engineering, Public Works and Central Maintenance budgets. Players can find the rest of the city's courts on our Ocala pickleball guide.

New turn lanes at SR 464 and SE 25th Avenue

Drivers who wait at State Road 464 and SE 25th Avenue (the city's bid plans label the state road SR 464/SE Maricamp Road) have a project coming. The plans call for minor widening and reconstruction of the south side of the intersection so northbound SE 25th Avenue gets a left-turn lane, a shared left-and-through lane and its own right-turn lane. Westbound SR 464 would get its own right-turn lane, SE 25th Avenue would get a marked bike lane, and the signal timing would be reset.

The Florida Department of Transportation signed a state-funded grant agreement for the work on Aug. 18, 2026. The staff report puts the estimated cost at $773,230, with FDOT reimbursing up to $579,922 and the city covering an estimated $193,308 plus anything over FDOT's share. Item 10d would pay DRMP, Inc. $195,012 for construction engineering and inspection. The agenda does not give a construction start date.

Homeless outreach, mobile homes and affordable housing

The city's Office of Homeless Prevention won $100,000 from Marion County's federal Emergency Solutions Grant for this fiscal year, and items 10h and 10i would accept it. According to the staff report, $12,000 would go to a bus ticket program that lets homeless people ride back to their original home where a support system is verified, and $88,000 would help pay outreach and referral specialists who work directly with homeless residents. The city would meet the grant's 100 percent match with staff salaries.

People who live in mobile homes have a stake in a consent item too. A new state law, SB 594, requires every local housing plan funded by the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program to include a strategy for manufactured housing. Resolution 2027-8 (item 6g) amends the city's 2025-2028 plan to add relocation help for owners and tenants evicted when a mobile home park closes, up to six months of lot rent help, and repairs. The staff report says the city would not be eligible for future SHIP money without the update.

Also on consent: Habitat for Humanity of Marion County would be reimbursed $11,839 and $5,935 in permit charges and other fees for two new affordable homes, paid from the city's affordable housing fund (items 6h and 6i), and The Ford Design Group, LLC would get a contract of up to $62,000 to rehabilitate an owner-occupied home under the city's program for low-income homeowners (item 6f).

Apartment trash billing gets a first reading

Ordinance 2027-7 (item 8a) is up for introduction and first reading. Council has authorized the city's sanitation division to collect garbage with roll-off compactors, and multi-family complexes that use them are billed at a compactor rate set by council resolution. According to the staff report, two complexes want to switch to compactors but keep billing tenants per unit. The change would let multi-family complexes with compactors choose the per-unit rate set by council resolution. Staff list no fiscal impact. Ordinances need a second reading before adoption.

More on the agenda

• SunTran backup power (10b): Budget Resolution 2027-109 accepts $286,008 in Federal Transit Administration money for a natural gas standby generator at the SunTran operations and maintenance facility, 1805 NE 30th Ave. Staff say it keeps transit running during power outages and emergencies. Routes are on our public transportation guide.
• Fire rescue equipment (10k, 10l): one Lucas automatic chest compression device and two LifePak 35 cardiac monitors from Stryker, $139,687, and a one-year renewal for fire rescue uniforms with Read's Uniforms, estimated at $138,000.
• Security cameras and alarms (10a): $245,800 with Morse Communications Inc. for cameras, building access controls and alarms at City Hall, a fire station, Poinciana Park, Jervey Gantt and water and wastewater facilities, among other sites.
• Stormwater fencing (10e): a three-year agreement with Charles White Fence Inc., expected at $210,000, to repair worn and storm-damaged fencing around stormwater retention areas.
• Electric utility supplies (6b, 10f): inventory purchases of up to $51,745 from Gresco, Inc. and up to $253,916 from several vendors.
• Other consent items: a three-year tree care agreement with Tip Top Tree Experts, LLC for up to $83,655; $2,492 from the police trust fund for the Polar Patrol program; fire station supplies from Benet Incorporated, estimated at $74,591; the reappointment of Austin Ridge to the police officers' retirement board; and council minutes.
• Testing contract (10j): asbestos, lead and mold testing over three years, up to $150,000, with DK Environmental Construction Services, Inc. and PbO3 Environmental Monitoring, LLC.
• Internal audit (11a): a memo on a tabletop exercise in running city operations by hand during a multi-day network outage.

The first business after roll call is awards: the Mayor's Citizen Recognition Award to Rebecca Chamberlain, the Mayor's Citizen Lifesaving Award to Heidi Eck, Chris Laudenslager, Pablo Suazo, Courtney Yancey and Nick Zalak, and a 30-year service award to Jacqueline Gutierrez of Ocala Electric Utility. The agenda does not describe the rescue behind the lifesaving award.

How to attend or comment

The meeting is open to the public. According to the agenda, anyone who wants to speak must fill out a written public comment form and hand it to the City Clerk before the meeting is called to order. Speakers get three minutes, and the Council President may allow more. Residents can also send written comments to the City Clerk ahead of time for the public record, or contact council members by office visit, phone, letter or email, which also become public record. General public comments come at item 16, after the department reports.

Consent agenda items, including the community solar and mobile home items, pass together in one roll-call vote with no separate discussion unless a council member or a member of the public asks for an item to be pulled. Anyone who needs accommodations to take part should call the City Manager's Office at 352-629-8401 at least 48 hours ahead. Council members are listed on our Ocala City Council page, and other public meetings this month are on our November 2026 public meetings calendar. The same day, Marion County's two newest commissioners take their seats; see our county commission preview.

What comes next

The agenda's calendar lists the Transportation Planning Organization board on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 3 p.m. at the Marion County commission auditorium, Light Up Ocala on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 3 p.m. on the Downtown Square, city office closures on Nov. 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving, and the next council meetings on Dec. 1 and Dec. 15 at 4 p.m. Our earlier preview of the Nov. 3 council meeting covers the previous agenda.

Sources: City of Ocala City Council Final Agenda, Nov. 17, 2026, and the meeting page on the city's Legistar site, including staff reports for files 2027-0207, RES-2027-7, 2027-0172 (and its attached 2025 contract report), 2027-0261 (and its attached bid plans), RES-2027-9, BR-2027-110, RES-2027-8, 2027-0267, 2027-0268, 2027-0193, ORD-2027-7, BR-2027-109, 2027-0270, 2026-2120 and 2027-0190. Checked Nov. 13, 2026. The council had not voted as of that date.