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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 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

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