Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
April 2, 2026; 10:30 a.m.

Board Discussion and Action:
Commissioner Garcia raised the issue of the difficulty of finding minority women vendors. He asked if the MWRD was reaching out to vendors outside of the agency’s data base. Staff replied that they also review data bases from the City of Chicago and found no firms that fit the need.  Commissioners asked if staff reached out to Cook County and to the State. It was suggested that perhaps they needed to reach  beyond the virtual to identify vendors. 
Commissioner Corral-Sepulveda asked about certification activity and about how MWRD determines how far to reach out for vendors. She asked if contractors can be certified after the contract has been adopted. Staff said yes, this “rolling” certification can be done. 
Commissioner Garcia asked that there be better reporting of the numbers and the process. President Steele requested ED Murray to include all the questions/answers on this subject in an email to the commissioners. She also reminded the commissioners that they should send their questions through the Executive Director. He will then direct them to the appropriate staff for response.  #5-0212

Commissioner Kirkwood asked why polymer is crucial. ED Murray explained that it is used in sludge thickening, separating water and solids in the production of cake.  Commissioner Waller asked if this expenditure would be required if the Red Line extension was not happening and could the MWRD recover any costs from the CTA. Murray answered that there would be no reimbursement. He explained that they would use pumps to pump sludge into a geo-pool where it settles out in fifteen days. Centrifuges are much quicker. Centrifuges are expected to be online by 2028.  #8-26-0222

Commissioner Brady-Davis expressed appreciation that the Harvey Sewer Improvements project was getting underway. This is an 18-month project. She asked how this is being communicated to the citizens of Harvey. Staff replied that communication is hard-wired into every contract.  Several commissioners asked for assurance that this communication would be happening and indeed, that those involved should “over communicate” to the citizens. Commissioner Garcia asked if there were any budgetary issues in Harvey. Murray replied that the capital funding was through grant money. Harvey is only responsible for the ongoing maintenance after project completion.     #9-26-0225

Comm. Garcia Deferred Agenda Items: # 4,6,7   All dealing with inability to find minority contractors due to specifics of need.

Duration of Meeting: 66 minutes
Executive Session: No               

Observer: Georgia Gebhardt    

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting
March 19, 2026

All items on the agenda were approved, with 3 items discussed:

• Authority to advertise a contract to analyze wastewater and biosolids samples collected from industrial facilities and water reclamation plants for PFAs  (forever chemicals) for purposes of monitoring by the Monitoring and Research Dept.  Executive Director Murray explained that this is to continue work that is being done, though this will add samples from water reclamation plants.  Comm. Waller wanted to make sure that the ultimate report would be shared with the Illinois EPA and the public.  Exec. Dir. Murray said he was not opposed to do so with appropriate explanation of results.  (Agenda #13, 26-0172)
• Authority to issue a 6-month extension to Grand Prairie Water Commission to perform soil borings, wetland studies, and soil sampling on properties owned by the MWRD in the Cal-Sag Channel in Palos Hills and Palos Park as a possible route for a new water transmission line to connect to Chicago’s water system.  Exec. Director Murray and General Counsel Morakalis explained that this line would be to furnish water to Joliet and several surrounding communities outside of the MWRD’s service territory.  (Agenda #31, 26-0201)
• Comm. Garcia asked for a status of the MWRD bond situation in connection with a Report on a Request for Proposal for Professional Underwriting Services for MWRD Bond Sales.  Treasurer Steve Lux explained that there is a lot of volatility in the market now and he does not expect to go to the market until August to refinance some existing bonds.  Comm. Garcia said he would like to have a future presentation so that all the Commissioners could hear what he, in his role as Finance Chair, has learned from working with Mr. Lux.
• Not discussed:  authority to purchase 15.82 acres for construction of a Flood Control Project from the Des Plaines River to Glenwood Lane in Maine and Northfield Townships that is expected to benefit 114 single and multi-family structures.  Cost for the land is $8.15 M + closing costs. (Agenda #29, 26-0174)

New business:  President Steele raised Agenda Item #2 which recognizes March 22 as World Water Day and said that this year’s theme is Water and Gender, highlighting the role that women play in the field and promoting more women in careers in water.

No Executive Session.
Time of Meeting:  40 minutes, including a 5-minute break.

Observer:  Priscilla Mims  

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting –
March 5, 2026

 

Agenda Items Of Interest
All Consent agenda items approved 9/0 after three roll call votes for the following: 
26-0149 Funds for MWRD picnic (9/0), 
26-0159 Change MBE/WBE/VBE De-watering facility (8/0, 1 Abstain Coral-Sepulveda)

• Comm. Waller concerned about cost, right-of-way under railroad tracks, improved public information and quantifying ROI in dollars.
• Comm. Coral-Sepulveda questioned the Memo of Understanding (MOU) with CTA which had included the MWRD DEI commitments, but which CTA cannot accept due to federal source of grant.  Waller supports accepting the CTA grant. 
• Comm. Garcia appreciates that managing MWRD DEI while complying with federal mandates for grant funds will be more challenging for next three years at least.
• Comm. Brady-Davis suggested a name for the de-watering facility. Pres. Steele recommends that percentage of $82 M contributed by each Agency be taken into consideration before naming.

26-0132 Lease Assignment for Village of Crestwood Board votes “No” (7-No, 2 Abstain Brown and Flynn) on partial assignment of lease from the Village of Crestwood to permit sale of alcohol and video gaming.  

• Village of Crestwood Mayor, Ken Klein, returned to ask for approval citing Village’s need for funding. Lease assignment for alcohol and video gaming is appropriate use of property and within the authority of the Village under the current lease agreement, per Village’s attorney, Burt Odelson. 
• Tessa Murray, Friend of the Chicago River is opposed and considers this development a risk to the ecosystem adjacent to the waterway; but if approved, offered to work with the Village to make highest and best use of the land. 
• Michael Voltentesda (Crestwood resident since 1990) is opposed.  Cited drop in property value, increased loitering, littering and crime.  Crestwood already has video gaming and alcohol.  Better use of this land is green space, walking paths, veterans’ memorial.  Development should reflect sustainable uses and strengthen family accessibility. 

​New Business and also in items 1-6. 
Recognition of Women’s History Month and events, contributions of Irish Americans, Shannon Rovers 100 years.  MWRD marches in two St. Patrick’s Day parades: Countryside on March 7, and Chicago on 14 March. Approve funds for MWRD picnic. Government Finance Officers Award for 2025 Budget (42nd yr).

Commissioner Requests

• 26-0147 Comm. Waller asks MWRD staff to consider lessons learned from last reverse auction which did not beat the market and doesn’t end until Aug 2026
• 26-0138 Sharon Waller requested consideration to allow staff to use MWRD charging stations.  C. Davis requested the projected timeline to meet the 2030 electric vehicle goal and asked for options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, if goals are not met due to lack of available e-vehicles.  M. Garcia and ED Director Murray agreed that it is time to revisit the biogas issue in a Study Session.

Observer:   Victoria L Cerinich                        Commissioner(s) Absent: None    Executive Session (No)

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting  
February 19, 2026

This Board meeting began and ended with Commissioners recognizing the contributions of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. to the City and its people, with Commissioners Brady-Davis and Steele giving especially moving accounts of the Rev. Jackson’s impact on their lives and careers.

Finance: The MWRD had cash disbursements of $70 million in January.

Projects: 

• Item #13 26-0120 After approving $27 million in electrical upgrades for the DesPlaines-based Kirie Water Treatment Plant at the February 5th Board Meeting, Commissioners approved without discussion at this meeting a $10 million contract with John Burns Construction Company, LLC for rehabilitation of portions of a service tunnel at the Kirie plant.  

Industrial Waste:

• Item #21 26-0134. Authority to settle lawsuit in Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago v. Electronic Plating Co., Case No. 2025L006657, seeking an injunction to keep sewer plugged and to impose additional civil penalties for violations of a final Board order entered in prior Show Cause proceedings, and to collect other amounts owed by Electronic Plating pursuant to the District’s ordinances
• This item was flagged by Commissioner Davis. In extensive discussion it was noted that Electronic Plating Company had been a serial industrial polluter since at least 2019 and various fines, other civil penalties and court orders had not stopped discharges exceeding MWRD clean water standards. MWRD attorneys confirmed the Company had violated a final Board order and said the company’s sewers were plugged on June 6, 2025.  It was noted the company had essentially ceased doing business.   
• After an initial deferral and discussion, Commission Davis agreed to return this item to the agenda, where the settlement agreement was approved.

Recreation and Community:

• Item #25  26-0132. President Steele deferred this item without discussion.
• Village of Crestwood Mayor Ken Klein made an impassioned plea to the Board in public comments, saying the Village was depending on revenue from gaming to pull the community out of a money-losing situation at the Crestwood Golf Course on it’s MWRD leasehold south of the Cal-Sag Channel and west of Cicero Ave.   He was distressed the item had been pulled from the meeting agenda on short notice, despite prior conversations with staff and two commissioners.  The Mayor said MWRD staff had agreed to a partial assignment of lease from the Village of Crestwood, to the Village of Crestwood and 4Crestwood LLC as co-tenants. The partial lease assignment would all allow the sale and consumption of alcohol and video gaming.  

Meeting Length: 55 minutes   Executive Session:  None  

Observer: Laurie Morse

Metropolitan Water Reclamation Board (MWRD)
Board of Commissioners Meeting 
February 5, 2026

Board Action:

• Item 13: #26-0074. Authority to award Sollitt/Broadway Joint Venture a contract for electric power distribution and phosphorus removal improvements at Kirie Water Reclamation Plant (KWRP), for a total amount not to exceed $27 million. Commissioner Sharon Waller pulled this item from the agenda for discussion. She asked Executive Director Murray what the public might expect to receive for this $27 million. The KWRP, located in Desplaines, is one of the newer (built 1980) and smaller of the District’s seven treatment plants. Executive Director Murray responded that the KWRP needed extensive electrical upgrades; and biological processes at the plant need to be amended to meet new phosphorous removal requirements. The item was returned to the agenda and approved.
  
• Industrial Waste: Item 2. #IW26-001A. The Board approved without discussion amendments to sections of the MWRD’s Sewage and Waste Control Ordinance that address industrial polluters. The amendments included new regulations requiring certain industrial companies not currently licensed to discharge into the MWRD’s systems to certify annually that they have not done so.The hearing process for industrial polluters was also streamlined, making the Director of Monitoring and Research primary hearing authority, rather than the District’s Executive Director.
• Tax abatement:Item 3. Ordinance #O26-00. The Board approved without discussion an Ordinance directing the County Clerk to reduce 2025 property taxes by $10 million for payments on capital improvement bonds that were alternately funded through the District’s Bond and Interest fund, making taxpayer funding redundant.
• Projects: Item 16. #26-0073. The Board received a year-end 2025 engineering report on the Addison Creek Channel improvement project. The project, which was scheduled to be complete in August 2026, has experienced delays and cost overruns. The work is now expected to be complete in June of 2027 and was about $1.5 million over budget as of December.
• Recreation and Community: Item 17. #26-0075. Commissioners gave permission for Friends of the Chicago River to access District real estate at 25 locations along the North Branch of the Chicago River, North Shore Channel, Main Channel, and Cal-Sag Channel for its annual Chicago River Day cleanup event on May 9, 2026. Annette Anderson, Friends of the Chicago River Program Manager, spoke in support of the permit at the start of the Board meeting.

Information request: Commissioner Sharon Waller asked Executive Director Murray to investigate monetizing phosphorus savings associated with the use of treated wastewater for irrigation at MWRD facilities. 

Observer: Laurie Morse                      Meeting Length: 53 minutes Executive Session: None 

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting 
January 22, 2026

Board Action:

• The MWRD Board approved item 26-0037, contract # 26-822-31 for $24,255,000 to $29,325,000 for TARP (Tunnel and Reservoir Plan) mechanical equipment improvements at the Calumet Water Treatment Plant, including work on the sewage pump’s suction valves dating from 1985, integrating the auxiliary chillers, and other work.  There was some discussion of this item, to clarify its purpose and the expected useful life of the improvements, as it was the largest dollar item on the agenda.
• The Board approved item IW 26-001, Amended Sewage and Waste Control Ordinance. Along with minor streamlining and clarification, it brings sections of the ordinance into congruence with USEPA reporting requirements on dental amalgam, streamlines processes for appeals and for serving notice, prohibiting interference with District monitoring activities, and classifying non-discharging categorical industrial users and requiring that they certify annually to the District that they have not discharged anything regulated.  There was some discussion of this item, with questions to attorney John Murray on the purpose of the proposed changes, especially the new requirement for self-certification of the new category of industry, with the requirement allowing the District to have a means of contacting these industries and to track if they begin discharging regulated amounts.
• Item 26-038 to go to bid for 14-year lease on a 2.5 acre parcel in Lemont for a minimum of $75,000, was approved.
• There were no Deferred or Deleted Agenda Items

Stormwater Management

• Item 26-0035, a 5-year permit to the U.S. Geological Survey to continue to operate the stream gauge at Summit was approved.

New Business 

• While the official minutes record no items, there were several items discussed. President Steele invited all to the Black History Month Pan African flag raising on Feb. 2.  Commissioner Waller noted that the U.S. EPA will no longer include human health factors in its cost-benefit analyses, and drew attention to several portions of the District’s mission involving protection of health, and Commissioner Flynn seconded these remarks. Commissioner Brady-Davis thanked the Executive Director for having the live-stream of the reservoirs fixed. 

Time of the meeting approximately one and a half hours including a five-minute break after the Committee of the Whole. There were no items for Executive Session.

Observer -  Deborah Stone