Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting 
April 1, 2021 

Board Action
Agenda Items: Commissioners pulled 10 agenda items for discussion.  Once discussed, all but item #34 were returned to the agenda and approved.  

Administrative:
Executive Director (ED) Brian Perkovich deleted item 32 (21-0300). 

• This item was the subject of 3 public comments at the start of the meeting.  Homeowners in the Ropolo subdivision asked Commissioners to vote in favor of Item 32 and end an annexation agreement between Elk Grove Village and the MWRD that would have allowed the Village to use MWRD land to “take our homes.” The annexation involved about 41 acres of MWRD land near the Majewski Reservoir. 
• Language in item 32 required the District in future annexation agreements to limit a municipality’s ability to pursue involuntary annexations of private property contiguous to District land.
• ​ED Perkovich deleted the item prior to public comments, apparently because a letter from an attorney representing the homeowners noted item 32 was not sufficient to meet a court order that required both the termination of the annexation agreement and a disconnection of the private properties from the Village.  

Affirmative Action Goals

• Most of the discussion in this meeting revolved around item 33 (21-0253) with Commissioners asking how MWRD affirmative action goals are enforced in project partnerships.  The MWRD often enters into intergovernmental partnerships to complete infrastructure projects.  
• Item 33 authorized $3 million payment to the Village of Mount Prospect to design, construct, and operate the Aspen Trails’ storm sewer and reservoir project. The Village was unwilling to apply affirmative action goals to the entire project, reportedly because specialized equipment was involved that was difficult to source from minority or women-owned firms.
• Commissioner Corral Sepulveda asked staff if the MWRD requires documentation of good faith efforts to apply the goals in these cases. Director of Engineering, Dr. O’Connor, said no.
• Commissioner Corral Sepulveda noted the Board was about to receive the 2021 disparity study, and asked staff and fellow Commissioners for suggestions on how the District can strengthen affirmative action goals in its intergovernmental agreements.
• ​Commissioner Garcia agreed hiring goals in partnership agreements should be stronger. 
• Commissioner McGowan said “We have a lot of these partnerships.  I’d like to know who the PCE’s (minority contractors) are who are hired, along with the dollar amount they received.   We need to keep up with all of this.  It’s quite a lot of money.”
• ​Commissioners requested a memo from staff showing all partners of intergovernmental agreements, with dollar amounts provided by each partner; identifying the contractors and minority contractors hired and how much each were paid. Commissioners want data to give them a sense of what dollars the MWRD, and its partners, are allocating to minority contractors.  Executive Director Perkovich agreed to provide the memo. 

Stormwater Management

• Item 34 (21-0254) was deferred by commissioner Shore to allow staff time to determine if the MWRD’s stormwater watershed management ordinance was more or less stringent than the one in Kane County.   Item 34 would have allowed the Village of East Dundee to enforce the Kane County ordinance in portions of Cook County.

Executive Session:

• The Board meeting opened at 10:30 am.  At 11:45 the meeting was closed for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining agreements.  The meeting was reconvened at 12:45 pm. 

Observer - Laurie Morse                     Length of Meeting: 3 hours including a one hour executive session

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
​March 18,  2021 

Agenda items:

• Five items were pulled for further discussion though all were finally approved.
• Item #21-0228 was an increase in a contract for security services at Prairie Plan Site. Staff will look into whether security firm could install nature web cams at this site. These live streams are popular with the public for nature viewing.
• Item #21-0229 was a one day permit for the Friends of the Chicago River for clean-up on May 8 at nineteen locations. The debris boat will assist the Friends in the clean-up.

Stormwater Management:

• Item #21-0239 was an Intergovernmental Agreement with Blue Island to build a bioswale and permeable alley on 119th street. This could capture 64,000 gallons of stormwater. Cost will be $250,000.

This was a short meeting with no public comment, no new business, and no commissioner requests. 

Observer - Peggy Kell                                                    Length of meeting - 42 minutes

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting
March 4, 2021
                           All Commissioners present

Board Action:
All agenda items were approved, except for Agenda Item #19 (21-0181), authority to advertise a contract for testing and repairing underground storage tanks, which was deleted by the Executive Director.  

​Only a few items were pulled out for discussion, and most of the discussion related to remembering former MWRD Commissioner and President Terrence J. O’Brien who recently died and celebrating 14-year old Dorothy Jean Tillman from the Chicago south side who received her Masters degree in environmental science in 2020.  Ms. Tillman has created the Dorothy Jeanius STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) Educational Leadership Institute to create an environment where adolescents can pair arts with technology.  During the pandemic she has created at home STEAM kits for adolescents, and has also reached out to South African youth.

​Following are a few items noted from the agenda and meeting:

• Executive Director Brian Perkovich announced that the district is making plans to “go back to ‘normal’” with the roll-out of the vaccine.   However, he expects that there will be changes in how the district does things based on what they have learned over the past year.  Management is now reviewing a draft of a new remote working policy.
• Finance:  Agenda Item 9 was a report to the Board on comparison of investment income in 2020 vs. 2019:  down by $10 M, from almost $18 M in 2019 to not quite $8 M in 2020.  Item 10 showed a continuation of that trend for January 2021 vs. 2020:  down 60% from $1 M in Jan. 2020 vs. $0.47 M in 2021.  Given the Federal Reserve Board’s announced plans to maintain low interest rates, the forecast is for the district to continue to have low returns.  However, Agenda Item 11 reported that the district’s investments are out-performing the benchmark 90-day Treasury bill:  0.43% vs. 0.10% in the 4th quarter of 2020.
• Web site:  Agenda Item 23 was a request to advertise a contract for enhancements to the new web site, particularly with regard to video content.  Commissioner Garcia asked what languages would be included (vs. translation capability), which the Executive Director was still being looked at.
• Commissioner McGowan and others expressed their gratitude to the employees for all that they have done during the past year of the pandemic.  Commissioner Shore suggested that consideration be given to allowing employees to take time off to get vaccinated since a number of vaccination sites are not open on the weekend.

Observer -  Priscilla Mims                     Length of meeting:  1 hour and 20 minutes

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
February 18, 2021
​         The meeting was held virtually.  All 9 Commissioners were in attendance.

Agenda Items
Several items were pulled from the Agenda for discussion.  After the discussions, all items were returned to the consent agenda and all passed unanimously.

• Items #9  21-0007, authority to advertise a contract for furnishing, delivering and administration of rain barrels, and #32  21-0103, authority to subsidize the cost of rain barrels provoked questions, comments, and suggestions from all Commissioners.   (Both items had had been deferred from the previous board meeting.)  Commissioner Sepulveda questioned whether the program was meant to be for public education or for storm water management.   Commissioner Shore asked if staff had considered subsidizing other types of installations for capturing storm water, such as water gardens.  Commissioner Spyropoulos was interested in discussing other kinds of price reductions by age or by impact.  Commissioner Davis pointed out that there is urgency to the matter because of the increasingly wet springs this region has recently experienced.   All commissioners  support the rain barrel program and the items were sent back to the Agenda to be passed in its current form with tracking information on distribution and installation to be gathered and available in the 4th quarter this year. 
• Item #21  21-0158, authority to increase purchase order with AT&T for point to point communications:  Commissioner Davis noted that the Board receives frequent requests for AT&T services, and because they see these requests only incrementally they don’t know what the total annual cost is for AT&T, even though it is a “big ticket” item.  Executive Director Perkovich stated that the cost for AT&T services is approximately $2.3m annually.  He further explained that the staff is in the process of negotiating two RFPs with AT&T:  Agenda item #7 for mobile data and cellular communications, which will replace item #22, and #8 for point to point and internet services, which will replace items #21, #23, and #24, all of which authorize increased payments to AT&T.  When the new RFPs go into effect, the Board will see requests for a 3-year period instead of the frequent incremental items like those on today’s Agenda.  Requests for services will be bundled into the RFPs, increasing the District’s leverage in negotiating for possible price reductions; the budget will be stabilized and there will be fewer unplanned costs.  

Stormwater Management

• #29-21-0153    Authority to approve, execute and make payment to the owner of 2001 W. Cermak Rd. in Broadview for permanent and temporary easements in connection with the Addison Creek Channel for $124,370.40.
• #30-21-0154    Authority to pay final just compensation of $1,114 through summary judgement in an eminent domain lawsuit, from the Stormwater Management Fund.
• #33-21-0168    Authority to enter into an intergovernmental agreement and payment not to exceed $165,000 to the Village of Elmwood Park for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Elmwood Park Stormwater Treatment Train [also known as Treatment Practices].

Commissioner Requests (by Agenda Item)

• #21 Commissioners Davis and Spyropoulos requested a  summary report of the services the District utilizes under the AT&T contract and the associated costs to the District.
• #9 Commissioner Shore requested staff look into the possibility of incorporating installation to the furnish and deliver contract in order to ensure the implementation of the District’s rain barrel program as intended by the Consent Decree.  Commissioner DuBuclet requested including community engagement as part of the Strategic Plan.
• #32 Several Board members requested data collection and analysis of the amount of rain captured through the District’s rain barrel program. The analysis should also be used to make the necessary changes to the implementation of the program in the Strategic Plan.  Commissioner Morita requested to see the survey questions before the updated program is posted on the website.  President Steele requested all information used in the past rain barrel program be provided for the new Commissioners.  Commissioner McGowan requested a memo on the past Consent Decree.

Ann Bolan, Observer                                            Length of Meeting:  2 hours, 30 min. 

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting  
February 4, 2021

The meeting was held virtually.  All 9 Commissioners were in attendance.

Board Action:
The following items were passed unanimously without discussion:

• Agenda Item #3 21-0126 and #4 21-0127, resolutions recognizing February as Black History Month and honoring Dr. Elizabeth Lockhart.
• Agenda Item #2 021-001, an ordinance directing the County Clerk to reduce the levy of taxes on Capital Improvement Bonds for the levy year 2020, had been deferred from the January 21 meeting.
• Agenda Item #22 21-0118, authority to award a contract for small streams maintenance in Cook County, Illinois, (in two parts) in amounts  not to exceed $2,800,000.00 and $1,750,000.00, respectively.    
• Agenda Item #23 21-0081, authority to increase a contract for modifications to TARP control structures & drop shafts,  in an amount of $321,566.44, from an amount of $3,226,745.33, to an amount not to exceed $3,548,311.77.  This item also had been  deferred  from the January 21, 2021 meeting.
• All other items on the Consent Agenda were also passed unanimously and without discussion.

Deferred Agenda Items

• Agenda Item #11 21-0007, authority to advertise a contract for furnishing and delivering rain barrels and #28 21-0103, authority to subsidize the cost of rain barrels, prompted questions and  suggestions by several Commissioners.  Ultimately they agreed that they would like to have much more information about how well the program has worked in the past and what changes would make sense and be fair going forward.  Both items were deferred by Comm. McGowan.     
• Agenda Item #15 21-0106, a purchase order to Equipment Depot of Illinois, Inc., to furnish and deliver a new 2021 Mitsubishi electric forklift,  Comm. Garcia questioned whether this equipment was made in the US with American labor.  The item was deferred until Exec. Director Perkovich can make that determination.
• Agenda Item #20 21-0120, authority to issue a purchase order for several kinds of new vehicles.  Comm. Shore asked if it would be possible to lease instead of purchase these gas-powered vehicles in light of the fact that the nation and the MWRD district are moving toward an all-electric fleet.  Comm. Spyropoulos requested an analysis of the MWRD fleet and staff recommendations.  The item was deferred by Comm. Davis pending the delivery that information.   

Ann Bolan - Observer                                                    Length of Meeting:  I hour, 55 min.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
January 21, 2021

The meeting was to begin at 10:30 but was delayed for 15 minutes due to Com. McGowan’s having technical issues with her zoom software’s ability to mute and unmute.  The meeting began in earnest shortly before 11 am.  

Public Comment

• Jen Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council, was the only public comment speaker.  Her comments addressed the Ethics ordinance that MWRD has been working on for almost a year.  She worried that $150 lobbying fees were still quite high for non-profit organizations like the Friends of the Chicago River to afford.  She pointed out that technical assistance offered to the MWRD should not be considered “lobbying”, and she worried that legal requests to the MWRD would now be considered “lobbying”.  She indicated that other Cook County governments have a more streamlined lobbying definition.

Board Discussion/Action
Commissioners asked for a number of items to be discussed, but in the end, there were three significant discussions:

• Item 34-21-0081 was singled out by Debra Shore for discussion.  This contract had to do with drop shafts for TARP (Tunnel and Reservoir Plan) control in prairie restoration areas.   According to an environmental group doing restoration work there was heavy damage from gravel surges out of the drop shafts that damaged deer control fences and prairie plantings.  Com. Shore requested closer supervision from MWRD personnel for remediation by the contractor.  She also requested that plainer English be used so that the public understands what a “hydraulic transient surge event” might mean.  Habitat restoration is important and she requested the contract increase be deferred until staff could investigate.  Unanimous approval to defer.
• ​Item 39-21-0037:   Authority was being sought once again to lease 21+ acres of Cal-Sag Channel Parcel in Alsip to be used to construct a parking lot for semi-trucks.  (This item had been deferred from January 7 meeting.)    Coms. Shore, Davis, and Sepulveda had singled out this item for discussion.  The concern from Com. Shore was why in this time of climate change would the MWRD consider a 39 year lease for a diesel truck parking lot.  Instead, she suggested that the MWRD should either seek a shorter lease or plan ahead for a better use regarding land for future climate change.  Coms. Morita, Davis, and Sepulveda agreed that long term strategic planning was important in dealing with future climate change.  Diesel truck traffic pollution is often located in areas where issues of environmental justice have long existed, like Alsip.  Com. McGowan strongly urged that this was a local issue for Alsip to deal with, to decide what kinds of business they would allow, and what kind of environmental rules they would institute.   Com. Garcia suggested that there needed to be a study session and the issue needed to be viewed as part of the MWRD strategic plan.  The item was deferred to be discussed in a study session, unanimously. 
• The third discussion was about the ethics ordinance, Item 48-021-002.  Inspector General Blanchard reminded the board of commissioners that the State of IL required a lobbying fee even for non-profits.  Blanchard told them it would be easy to automatically remind lobbying groups that they needed to update their monthly reports and pay fees.  It can be made user-friendly so as to allay fears of penalties imposed for forgetting to report contact.  This was a fear brought up during public comment.  The ordinance was finally passed by unanimous consent.  Commissioners agreed to revisit the ordinance as necessary to make it friendly to the public.
• Frank Avila, a retired MWRD commissioner, was appointed as a trustee to the MWRD retirement fund.

Amy Little, Observer