MWRD Board Observer Reports

MWRD Board Discusses Proposed State of Illinois Legislation Program for 2020

2/9/2020

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
February 6, 2020

Primary Topic Discussed:
State of Illinois 2020 Legislation Program (Agenda Item 20-0053)

Legislative Initiative #1 of State of Illinois 2020 Legislation Program was unanimously approved. This will amend the District’s act to allow the Board of Commissioners to transfer excess revenue from any source legally available to the pension fund. Currently, there is only statutory authority to transfer property tax and interest income. An example would be if TIF surplus funds were redistributed. These could be transferred to the pension fund. The initiative would provide the Board with flexibility in utilizing excess revenue. A two thirds vote would be required for such action.

Legislative Initiative #2 - was separated from the original agenda item. This initiative would amend the District Act to extend the right to vote for the Board of Commissioners to all registered voters in Cook County. Currently, only voters within the corporate boundaries of the District have this right. The District has legislative authority for stormwater management throughout Cook County. Rationale: to bring the District political boundaries into line.

Commissioner Shore stated that this is a fairness issue for voters outside corporate boundaries. In the past grants have been rejected because residents were not within the district boundaries. There is no relationship between voting and paying taxes. All have a right to services.
Commissioners all expressed general support for the initiative but had questions to be answered before they could feel confident in voting. Commissioner McGowan asked for a specific list of the municipalities affected. There will be a study session on February 20 at which questions regarding the initiative can be addressed. The deadline for all bills to be out of committee is March 27, 2020.
The motion to divide the two legislative initiatives was approved unanimously.

Commissioner Garcia (in absentia) requested a weekly legislative report while the General Assembly is in session.

Other Board Activity:
The MWRD Executive Director gave the quarterly report for the Retirement Fund. (Agenda Item 20-0126)

He was gratified to report that 30% of the firms working with the fund are owned by women and/or minorities.
There is a net operating deficit because contributions do not cover payouts. Longer-lived pensioners, while a positive, bring funding challenges.
Returns on investments must fill this gap.

An Ordinance directing the County Clerk to reduce levy of taxes on Capital Improvement Bonds for levy year 2019 was approved with 8 ayes; 0 nays

New business:

Commissioner Davis reported feedback from his constituents regarding ethics ordinances. They requested thirty days for public comments on all ordinances.

Observer - Georgia Gebhardt Meeting Length: 2 hours

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MWRD Board Approves Amendment to Ethics Ordinance

1/25/2020

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
January 23, 2020

Board Decisions:

The Amendment to the Ethics Ordinance of the MWRD of Chicago was passed unanimously without discussion. Commissioners Shore and Steele expressed how gratified they were to see this come to fruition.
There were a considerable number of items that requested an increase of existing purchase orders. The authority to increase the purchase order with the law firm of Neal & Leroy came under scrutiny from several commissioners. Commissioner Davis stated that these orders came up for change too often because they did not adhere to the fee policy of 2018. He suggested three choices: live within the policy, eliminate it or amend it. Commissioner Garcia observed that the board was not sufficiently well prepared and in possession of all the necessary facts before being asked to render decisions. There is a need for more timely response from staff when commissioners have questions. VOTE: 7 ayes 1 nay (Davis)

Board Discussion:

Commissioner Shore raised concerns with (pipeline) perpetual easements and their risk to the MWRD. Given that they are perpetual, can they be renegotiated to respond to a change in risk. The MWRD attorney said renegotiation was unlikely, but these easements still must meet insurance requirements and compliance expectations. All pipelines have IEPA and EPA requirements they must meet. Commissioners Shore and Morita expressed a need to review perpetual pipeline agreements and to address at a policy level.
State of Illinois 2020 Legislative Program. The deadline to submit this program was January 24, 2020 (the following day). While the commissioners were in support of the program, several expressed some frustration that there was no time to address their questions given the deadline. They were reassured by the legislative head that there were already shell bills in place, allowing for flexibility. Legislative initiative #2 was deemed particularly important because it would allow registered voters outside the District’s corporate boundaries to vote for the MWRD commissioners. Item deferred at Comm. Garcia's request. (Agenda Item #36,0053)

Observer - Georgia Gebhardt

Report corrected 1/27/2020 to note item #36,0053 was deferred

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Non-Profit Groups Urge MWRD Board to Modify Proposed Ethics Ordinance

1/16/2020

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
January 9, 2020

The League of Women Voters of Cook County and Friends of the River both spoke in favor of modifying the proposed ethics rules the MWRD is in the process of trying to strengthen. The Ethics Ordinance had been pulled from the agenda due to letters sent by the League and other groups to commissioners, according to Commissioner Cam Davis, so that better language could be used to distinguish commercial interests from public advocacy interests.

The board recognized the plight of Puerto Ricans without drinking water and electricity after earthquakes. Commissioner Garcia had been in touch with his mother in Puerto Rico.

Board Items Discussed and Approved:

A software expenditure was discussed by Commissioner Shore as being very important for the security of a public infrastructure entity like MWRD especially with regard to current events with Iran. Mimecast is a security software that is used to protect public computer systems. She noted it was a small amount of money to pay for computer security. (Agenda Item 19)
Commissioner Garcia asked why MWRD would charge a small farm for use of MWRD land and bio-solids in Blue Island. Due to an ordinance, when a farm wants to sell its produce the MWRD is required to charge the entity rent. (Agenda Item 32)

Agenda Items Deferred or Deleted

Commissioner Davis asked that Bio-Solids Farming contract bids be made smaller so that smaller and minority companies would be able to bid on the contracts. He noted that many small non-profit farms are unable to bid on large contracts due to lack of scale. His argument was noted and future contracts will be smaller. (Agenda Item 13)
An item regarding the furnishing and delivery of liquid carbon dioxide to the Stickney Plant was deleted by the Executive Director. There was no discussion of this item. (Agenda Item 28)

Observed by Amy Little [by video] Meeting length - approximately 50 minutes

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation Board Approves $1.15 Billion 2020 Budget

1/7/2020

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
December 19, 2019

Board Actions:

The Board passed its final 2020 budget without discussion while emphasizing that it represents a $70 million or 5.7% decrease from 2019. The estimated tax levy is $652.6 million [up 1.4% from 2019], and full time equivalent employees are down 14 from 2019 at 1,953. This represents no significant change from the budget that was tentatively approved on December 12.
Of interest is where the Corporate Fund money goes [in millions]:
       Construction & Design $254.4 / 23.4%
       Bond Redemption & Interest 233.0 / 21.4%
       Plant Operations & Maintenance 202.6 / 18.6%
       Staff Services 127.8 / 11.8%
       Stormwater Management 116.3 / 10.7%
       Retirement Fund 87.3 / 8.0%
       Claims & Judgments 34.4 / 3.2%
       Monitoring & Research 31.5 / 2.9%

The Board passed a one-year continuation of its intergovernmental agreement with the Cook County Sheriff’s office to continue and expand its very successful drug disposal program of expired and unwanted over the counter and prescription drugs. The purposes of which is to maximize the volume of drugs prevented from reaching and polluting Illinois waterways. Budgeted at $100,000. Commissioners want to expand to city halls and anywhere that dispenses drugs as collection sites. The Sheriff’s office wants to offer a mail back option for the elderly and disabled.

An on-site Mobile and Testing Service Contract was approved, but Commissioner Spyropoulos asked that information regarding the times use, the length of time the District has engaged in this contract, and what other options might be available for drug testing be provided to all commissioners for future consideration.

Published and filed was a report on public notification of significant industrial users having exemplary compliance and records and industrial users significantly violating pretreatment standards or other requirements. Commissioner Garcia asked if penalties could be increased. The Executive Director said staff would check it out.

Observer: Diane Edmundson Meeting Length 90 min.

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MWRD Board Passes $1.15 Billion 2020 Budget - Includes 1.4% Increase in Tax Levy

12/17/2019

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board - Special Meeting
December 12, 2019

In 30 minutes, the Board passed the 2020 Budget which reflected additional changes to the Tentative Budget from November 7. The vote was 8 to 0, with Commissioner McGowan being absent. Following are some highlights:

The total budget is 5.7% ($70 million) less than that for 2019, and reflects a decrease of 14 positions.
The total property tax levy is $652.6 million, up $9.3 million from 2019, a 1.4% increase.
$20 million, the accumulated investment income, is proposed to be transferred to the Retirement Fund to maintain growth in the Retirement Fund’s funded ratio. To make this transfer, a 2/3 vote will be required after March 1.
The District will utilize the one-time revenue from Chicago’s declaration of a TIF surplus for a one-time expenditure of a $10 million upgrade to the Enterprise Resource Planning System.
In addition, $5 million will be reserved and might be used to fund an additional payment to the Retirement Fund if statutory authority is received.

Further changes to the 2020 budget may be considered at the regular Board meeting on December 19, at which time the budget will be finalized.

Observer - Priscilla Mims

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MWRD Commissioners Ask that Contracts and RFPs Be Brought to Them Earlier

12/15/2019

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Annual Meeting, Board Meeting, and Public Hearing on the Proposed 2020 Budget
December 5, 2019

Board Meeting

Several Commissioners expressed frustration that several new contracts or requests for proposals (RFPs) for services under existing contracts set to expire by the end of the year were only coming to the Board now. They asked that such items be brought at least two months ahead of time in the future to allow the Commissioners sufficient time to review the contracts or RFPs and get answers to questions to ensure that there would be no lapse of services. The Executive Director at the end of the meeting said that he understood what was wanted and he and the staff would take steps so this will happen in the future. Among those items,
- RFP for state consultants/lobbyists for the MWRD for 2020. However, don’t expect to award contract until Feb. 20, 2020, almost a month after the State Legislative Session begins. Commissioner Garcia also asked whether further thought had been given to placing all lobbyists under oversight by a single department. This item was passed. (Item 10, File 19-1192)
- Extension of contract which would otherwise expire on Dec. 31 through 2020 for federal consultants/lobbyists. Comm. Spyropoulos asked to defer, but expects will be on Dec. 19 agenda, so no interruption of service. (Item 29, File 19-1186)
- Authority to grant a 25-year easement to Enbridge Energy to continue to operate and maintain a petroleum pipeline. Existing easement expires Dec. 18. Concerns were expressed by Comm. Shore and Davis over the past fines the company has had for spillages and the age of the pipeline (50 years). The MWRD General Counsel said the delay in coming before the Board was due to some extra safeguards that the staff had negotiated in conjunction with this extension, including a $4.5 million letter of credit to cover any problems, as well as inspections of the pipeline. However, none of this information was included in the transmittal letter for this item. Comm. Davis asked to defer this item. (Item 36, File 19-1210)
Other items discussed and approved:
- Authority to issue RFP for rain barrels. Originally MWRD gave away rain barrels pursuant to a consent decree that has expired. Now sell the barrels. Comm. Garcia asked whether MWRD has any info on whether these barrels are actually used (answer was “no”), and suggested that some follow-up be done going forward to ensure this is worthwhile. (Item 16, File 19-1201)
Other items discussed & deferred:
- Payment for 1 employee to attend 10-day residential development program by the Water Wastewater Leadership Center. Several Commissioners wanted to know who else has gone in the past and what is the criteria for selecting the employee. Comm. Garcia requested deferral. (Item 8, File 19-1195)
- Proposed contract with Sun-Times to publish legal notices for 2020. Comm. McGowan asked to defer. (Item 23, File 19-1219)
- Settlement of property loss claim in connection with a sewer backup adjacent to a District manhole that was undergoing emergency repairs. Comm. Shore asked what, if anything, has District learned from this. Comm. Garcia asked to defer. General Counsel advised that settlement must be completed by Dec. 31, or the settlement agreement expired. (Item 35. File 19-1202)

Annual Meeting
Immediately prior to the Board meeting, the Annual Meeting was called to order at which the Board received and filed the Annual Report presented by President Steele. This Report is available at https://mwrd.legistar.com under “Meeting Details” for the Dec. 3, 2019 Annual Meeting. (This meeting had been suspended on Dec. 3 for lack of a quorum and resumed on Dec. 5.)

Public Hearing on the Proposed 2020 Budget
There were no public speakers. Finance Chair Avila, who was presiding, explained that the Civic Federation had written a letter to the Board stating that it would not be reviewing or commenting on the budget as it has in the past.

Observer - Priscilla Mims

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MWRD Board Discusses Proposed State of Illinois Legislation Program for 2020

MWRD Board Approves Amendment to Ethics Ordinance

Non-Profit Groups Urge MWRD Board to Modify Proposed Ethics Ordinance

Metropolitan Water Reclamation Board Approves $1.15 Billion 2020 Budget

MWRD Board Passes $1.15 Billion 2020 Budget - Includes 1.4% Increase in Tax Levy

MWRD Commissioners Ask that Contracts and RFPs Be Brought to Them Earlier

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