Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
May 20, 2021
Present: President Steele,  Commissioners Davis,  Du Buclet, Garcia, Morita, Corral Sepulveda, Shore, and Spyropoulos. Commissioner McGowan absent 

Board Action:
Agenda Item #25-#21-0457 - contract for approval - removed from Consent Agenda for discussion

• Commissioner Shore raised concerns about the $15 million boiler contract in which the low bidder was dismissed because of a missing signature on a subcontract. She asked how this can be avoided and what measures could be taken? Director Perkovich stated the ordinance mandates that any contract missing signature(s) is automatically rejected.
• Commissioner Shore reported her staff had researched this issue and had found that since 2016, there were sixteen bids rejected because of lack of signature, resulting in a cost of more than $2 million to taxpayers. Other agencies conduct a compliance review to avoid this. MWRD has no such review. Director Perkovich said the staff could definitely research this. President Steele directed that this be done ASAP.
• Commissioner Shore called this a systemic failure and that the Board had repeatedly asked for improvement in procurement procedures. Commissioner Davis pointed out that there are electronic tools that automatically  kick contracts out that are incomplete, thus alerting the agency to that fact before they are filed.
• Commissioner Shore’s second question was whether it is possible for these large contracts to be broken up into smaller parts. This would allow smaller contractors to bid on them, thus helping to meet MWRD’s goal of rewarding contracts to a more diverse group. Director Perkovich affirmed that this could be done.
• All other commissioners made statements in concurrence with Commissioner Shore’s concerns. Agenda item #25 was voted down on a roll call vote with all 8 commissioners present voting against the item.

After a lengthy executive session, the Board  reconvened and approved all the remaining agenda items.

New business:

• June board meeting will most likely be held in person.
• Commissioner Davis reported the Chatham Pilot Study had been halted, but not because of MWRD.
• Commissioner Shore said feedback on the state water plant would be invited next week.

   
Observer: Georgia Gebhardt                             Meeting time: 189 minutes including Executive Session

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
May 6, 2021 

Board Action:
Four items were pulled for further discussion though all were approved.

• Resolution #21-0390 regarding the hiring of grazing goats was pulled by Commissioner Shore.  The contract was scheduled to be awarded in January, and Commissioner Shore is concerned about its effects on ground nesting groups.  She requested a list of the locations that the grazing group will be deployed, the timeline for deployment, and asked that staff work with birders to take into account ground nesting birds.
• Resolution #21-0415 was pulled by Commissioner Spyropoulos to request more information as this major project has been on the books since 2019 and the District has rejected several bids for Odor Control Systems at two-Tarp Shafts and the decommissioning of the Thornton Transition Reservoir.  Cost $14.5 to $17.6 million.  Commissioner Davis asked the staff to examine the possibility of breaking down the contract into smaller sections.  
• Resolution #21-0399.  Report on green infrastructure, detention, and compensatory storage volumes required by the Watershed Management Ordinance (WMO).  Commissioner Shore suggested the District have a development plan to proactively reach out to developers to help them meet the WMO requirements.

Stormwater Management

• Resolution #21-0385 is to honor retiring Mayor, Arlene A. Juracek of Mount Prospect, and to thank her for being a great partner on flood control issues.

New Business

• Commissioner Shore requested a memo detailing the vaccination rate within the District, the approximate timeline for full vaccination, and a detailed plan for staff to return to work.

Public Comment

• There was one public comment by phone stating that he hoped that Commissioner Garcia would consider resigning from one of his two public positions.

Length of Meeting: Public meeting lasted 45 min - a very short business meeting with a very long Executive Session in the middle of the meeting

Observer - .Diane Edmundson                                          

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
April 15, 2020 

Public Comments
All the public comments concerned these two agenda items:

• Agenda Item 43#21-0357  Termination of annex agreement with Elk Gove Village
• Agenda Item 44#21-0358  Policy adoption on limits on municipalities’ actions following an annexation of MWRD land.   If the municipality then annexed land adjacent to the MWRD land, it could not condemn those properties for three years. 

Seven residents  that lived near the MWRD land  that was subject to the annexation   by Elk Grove Village spoke against the proposed policy of the MWRD to prohibit condemnation of annexed property for only three years. They were concerned that once the MWRD land was annexed, Elk Grove Village would then try to annex their area.  The lawyer for Elk Gove said the  village was able to acquire the needed land and no longer wanted to annex the MWRD land.  The policy consideration was withdrawn at the beginning of the meeting by Executive Director Perkovich.  During the meeting, the Board approved the termination of the annex agreement.

Agenda Items
Commissioners pulled 10 agenda items for discussion.  Once discussed, all items were returned to the agenda and approved.

• Agenda Item 10 #21-0356  Treasurer Boyle spoke to this item that would allow the MWRD to participate in the federal-state Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program. It  would provide up to $100,000,000 in low-cost financing for local projects.  They are reviewing which projects would be eligible for this grant.
• Agenda Item 36 #21-0331 Authority to increase the contract for reuse of biosolids.  This is an ongoing multiyear contract with Stewart Spreading, Inc.   Commissioner Spryopoulos asked that a more detailed report be given at a future meeting for the specific amounts last year, this year, and future projections. 

Administrative

• Executive Director Perkovich deleted Agenda Item 44 #21-0358 Authority to adopt a policy relating to requests submitted by municipalities on annexation of unincorporated District land. The policy would limit a municipality’s ability to pursue involuntary annexations of private property contiguous to District land.

Stormwater Management

• Agenda Item 45 #21-0254 Authority to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Village of East Dundee to allow East Dundee to enforce the Kane County Stormwater Management Ordinance.   This item was deferred from the April 1 meeting.  There was no discussion.
• Agenda item 46 #21-21-0342  Authority to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the village of LaGrange Park for construction of a permeable pavement reconstruction not to exceed $272,000.
• Agenda Item 48 #21-0344 Approval of an intergovernmental agreement with Park Ridge to help with flooding problems.  A stormwater capture facility will be built.  MWRD’s payment not to exceed $950,000.

New Business

• President Steele announced that the public relations department created an animated video of the book, Where Does It Go.   It will be available on the web site.
• Commissioner Morita announced that MWRD materials are being translated into Chinese.

​Observer - Kathleen Graffam                                             Length of meeting  1 hour 45 minutes