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Water Reclamation Board Continues to Focus on Increasing Efficiency, Fairness, and Best Practices

5/25/2018

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting - May 3, 2018
What did the Board decide?

Authorization for continued participation for 2021-2022 in a voluntary curtailment program (DR)) with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Letter to the Board from Executive Director David St. Pierre stated “Through voluntary curtailments by the District and other participants, the curtailment providers have been able to defer the need for additional generating capacity to meet the short-lived peak demand. ”The MWRD has participated in this since 1988 and has led to $12.97M in revenue for reducing electricity usage at designated times. One question was whether MWRD would be penalized under this agreement if we fulfilled all commitments made, but other parties do not. The answer was NO. Authorization was approved. (Agenda Item 5 (18-421))
Purchase Order regarding delivery of sodium hydroxide to Olin Corp. Question was whether MWRD was exploring use of other chemicals, perhaps magnesium for Chicago River to meet permit requirements for removing phosphorus from the Chicago River. Three million pounds of phosphorus have bee removed from the Chicago River. The concern relating to future costs arose because of an unexpected 50% increase in cost of chemicals. St. Pierre stated he would not offer an estimate for future costs of the project. Purchase order was approved. (Agenda Item 8 (18-0397))
Implementation of Energy Efficiency Projects - Commissioner Shore explained there is successive series of contracts to complete these efficiency projects through Public Building Commission. One questions was whether the MWRD could have managed these projects. St. Pierre stated the Board did not direct movement in that direction though the department personnel could have done it. Also, grants have been received from the state, rebates have been received from Nicor and ComEd. Projects were approved. (Agenda Item 15 (18-0411))
Paid Parental Leave for non-represented employees was approved without discussion. (Agenda Item 29)

Observed by: Carolyn Cosentino Meeting Length: 40 min.

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Water Reclamation Board Approves Negotiations to Hire Cook County's Independent Inspector General Services

5/25/2018

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting - May 17, 2018

What did the Board decide?

After a year of discussions and education, the Board gave authority to its staff to enter into discussions with Cook County to explore terms related to authorizing Cook County’s Independent General to serve as MWRD’s Inspector General. Congratulations to Board Chair Spyropoulos and Board member Shore for their leadership on this issue. (Agenda Item 31 (18-0493))
The Board also approved Ordinance PWR 18-001 establishing the prevailing wage for the MWRD covered employees the same as that for Cook and Fulton County. The Illinois Department of Labor will publish the prevailing rate schedule. (Agenda Item 48)
Approved a $2 million purchase order with V3 Companies of Illinois, Ltd for engineering services for Contract #18-848-5F, Program management of Stormwater Master Planning in Separate Sewer Service Area. In recommending the purchase order, the District said “The District has completed five Stormwater Master Plan Pilot Studies. The findings of these studies indicated that to provide structural protection from a 100-year flood event would require exorbitant investments by the District and local communities if traditional gray solutions or even solutions that blend green and gray infrastructure were utilized. Coupled with the experience gained in the on-going Phase II Flood Control Project in the Village of Robbins, it is increasingly evident the District needs to broaden its traditional approach to managing stormwater by identifying collaborative opportunities….” Contract deliverables are: 1) Summary of stormwater data collected from communities and prioritization of future study areas; 2) guidance document for stormwater master planning in separate sewer areas; and 3) individual study profiles to assist in developing RFP’s for future master plans.

Just before ending the board meeting before noon, Commission McGowan asked for an Executive Session (ES) to discuss an employee discipline problem. At 1:09 p.m. the ES was still in progress with no notice as to when it would break to reconvene the Board meeting. This Observer left the meeting but checked in later that day to determine that the Board did approve its consent agenda as modified which included the above three items.

Observer - Diane Edmundson Meeting Length: 3 hours +

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Water Reclamation Board Continues to Focus on Increasing Efficiency, Fairness, and Best Practices

Water Reclamation Board Approves Negotiations to Hire Cook County's Independent Inspector General Services

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