Blog Archives

MWRD Board Ramps Up Oversight Responsibilities

10/22/2020

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

By deleting one high profile item and deferring two others, Commissioners are increasingly expressing their desire to receive information 2-4 weeks before board meetings on large contracts, ordinance and policy changes, and even some legal settlements. Comm. Davis suggested that committees be used to vet these requests before bringing them to the board. [See “Deleted/Deferred section].

Approved General Agenda Items

20-0876: The staff rejected bids from Odor Control Systems at two Tarp Shafts and the decommissioning of the Thornton Transitional Reservoir because of low bids. This is second time bids were rejected as too low. Staff is worried about the safety risks involved if there is a lot of rain. The staff estimated the costs should be $14.5 to $17.6 million dollars. Commissioner Spyropoulos said she would have more questions before the contract goes out for bid for the third time.
20-0870: The Board approved the District executing an Intergovernmental Agreement to receive $212,000 in Federal Covid-19 funds from the Cook County Bureau of Finance. Commissioners thanked County Government for sharing these relief funds.
20-0845: The Board authorized staff request to advertise for Legal Advisory Services related to the District Financing Program for a period of 5 years at a cost of $235,100. In approving this request, staff noted that a goal of 30% minority and female participation was set and it will hire five legal firms for each bond sale which increases opportunity for minority and female participation. Per Commissioners requests, Staff will include participation goals in the RFP for this and other bond sales.

Deleted/Deferred Items

Deleted: 20-0773 After two previous deferrals, Comm. Garcia asked for the $300,000 contract with Next Generation Technology, Inc. to enhance the District’s new website be rejected. His concern is with the platform Word Press which is not the platform the District is currently using and is not highly regarded by several of the Commissioners. In previous deferrals, Comm. Shore said that she was underwhelmed with New Generation’s presentation. Comm. Garcia wants the new RFP to be tightened to state specifically what the District needs. Staff indicated New Generation’s does have experience with the District’s platform; and in public comments at the end of the meeting, the Director of Business Development for New Generation confirmed that it did and also stated that Word Press is actually newer than the platform currently in use by the District.
Deferred: #41 20-0880 The Legal Department brought to the board a settlement proposal with Peoples Power and Light and Coke Company which included a 50-year easement for continued operation and maintenance of a natural gas pipeline and remediation of District property in Chicago under an IEPA consent decree. The concern is the 50 year easement, and would Peoples stretch out the remediation. Ans: There is no drop dead settlement date for remediation but the company has agreed to clean up the site to Residential vs Commercial level. The District set the rent for 28 acres which is 22.5 more acres than Peoples actually needs at a cost of $500,000 per year. The Legal Staff urged the board to approve this settlement as it has a court date the next week and wanted to bring the settlement to the judge. During the 2nd comment period, the lawyer for Peoples called in and tried to assure the board by saying that if good weather prevails, the remediation will be done by mid-2021. However Comm. Spyropoulos did not withdraw the deferral.
Deferred: #42-20854 [Stormwater Management]. The District requested approval to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Village of Niles. The agreement is in the amount not to exceed $2M most of which will be paid by the Illinois EPA and is for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the Greenwood Stormwater Park. Comm. Garcia asked for the deferral based on questions about participation goals.

New Business

Comm. Morita requested a comprehensive update regarding the District’s role and goal in collaborations with cities or the state for studies on COVID-19 and wastewater. Comm. Shore requested a memo or briefing to the Board on updates in regards to COVID-19 and fiscal impacts, savings, unexpected costs and employees returning to work.
Comm. Davis thanked President Steele for considering the League of Women Voters of Cook County’s recommendations on modifying its practice on meeting roll-call votes. Effective with this board meeting, individual roll-call votes were only taken on agenda items that were removed for discussion. All non-discussed items were bundled together for a single roll call vote.

Future Items

Comm. Shore gave a brief update on the District’s Strategic Planning Team’s efforts to date including internal and external surveys, wide and comprehensive outreach, and a Stakeholder’s Workshop on October 22. Comm. Garcia is co-chairing the planning team with Comm. Shore.
The 2021 Board Meeting Schedule has been set and posted on the website.

Observer: Diane Edmundson Length of Meeting: 2.5 hours

0 Comments

MWRD Commissioners ask for a Sharper Contract Bidding Process

10/11/2020

0 Comments

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
October 1, 2020

In general, the commissioners are digging deeper into the way contracts are defined and bidders’ responses screened. Comm. Davis asked the rhetorical question "can we sharpen the process to screen in/out bidders with response components that are incomplete or inaccurate”.

Approved General Agenda Items

20-0799 The staff received commissioner commendations for its efforts to diversify Bond underwriters and for the Districts AAA bond rating.
20-007 Request to amend the Resources Recovery Ordinance to reduce the tipping fee and increase breweries' willingness to sell and haul their waste to the Calumet Plant was approved without comment after being deferred at the September 17, 2020 board meeting. One of the reasons for deferral was the commissioners repeated request that ordinance and policy changes be presented to the board 30 days prior to placing on the formal agenda for a vote.
20-0738 Authority to advertise for a Management Services Contract to perform real time energy reverse actions and advisory services passed after considerable comment. Comm. Shore noted that it has been 10 years since the District adopted the reverse auction process for procurement of electricity. Comm. Shore indicated that she wants a determination made as to how this fits into the District's Climate Action Plan and that it is time for a systematic review of green energy options. It was also noted that the County and the City use a sealed bid process.
20-0821 Authority to advertise for Biogas Combined Heat and Power System contract at a cost of $2 million was approved after discussion. Comm. Spyropoulos asked the Executive Director (ED) to state his level of confidence in this project and then asked for a six month progress report. ED Perkovich stated that he feels "good" about the approach and that it is an example of/for the future.
20-0776 A contract to furnish and deliver salt and calcium chloride for year at various plant sites for sidewalks and driveways was approved. Comm. Spyropoulos asked for a memo on the environmental impact.
20-0787 Approved a contract for television inspection and recording of sewers and manholes at various locations to National Power Rodding Corporation for just under $2.6 million.
20-0790 Approved a contract to install mechanical mixers at the Stickney Water plant in an amount not to exceed $8.7 million plus a 5% allowance for change orders.

Deleted/Deferred Items

Agenda Item # 14-20-0789 Authority to advertise a contract for Farm Management Support Services at a cost of $375,000 was deleted by the ED without comment.
Agenda Item #21 -20-0773 Authority to cut a purchase order with Next Generation Technology for enhancements to the District's new website in the amount of $300,000 was again deferred by Comm. Garcia. This is the contract Comm. Shore said in September that she was underwhelmed by the contractor's presentation. Garcia asked for a second deferral because his questions to the staff were "not answered appropriately"

Future Items

Watch for a new date and time as the afternoon Study Session on non-profit organization's concerns with the implementation of the updated Ethics Ordinance was postponed due to repeated virtual technical difficulties that could not be corrected.
The 2021 budget session is scheduled to start on Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 2:00 pm. Topics: Budget and Employment and/or Capital Improvement Items

Observer: Diane Edmundson Length of Meeting: 2.5 hours

0 Comments

MWRD Board Approves Funds for Disparity Study

10/2/2020

0 Comments

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
September 17, 2020

Approved General Agenda Items

20-0708 A purchase order with Colette Holt & Associations to conduct the District’s Affirmative Action Ordinance Disparity Study that had previously been deferred was approved for an amount not to exceed $341,765. Comm. Garcia said that he was pleased the study will have an expanded scope.
20-0742 Request to decrease the 20-year contract amount with Metropolitan Biosolids Management to design, build, own, finance, operate and maintain a 150 dry tons per day biosolids processing facility at the Stickney plant and to beneficially use the final product for a period of twenty years. The District isn’t producing the volume expected. The contract calls for $10 million per year for 20 years starting from 2010 to Metropolitan Biosolids to produce the final product.

Approved Stormwater Management Items

20-0762 The board approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Village of Lyons in the amount not to exceed $500,000 for a Green Alleys permeable paver project. Comm. Garcia asked if the Districts biosolids were used in this type of project. Answer: No for alleys and Yes for landscape. It was noted that Chicago has refused to use biosolids but with a new city person, the District is trying to educate him/her on its value.
20-0763 The District is entering into agreements with municipalities for the use of the District’s GPS units to complete sewer system mapping to help find blockages.
20-0749 The District is entering into an agreement for a Stormwater Master Plan for Avalon Park, Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing, and South Shore communities.

Deleted Agenda Items

20-0622 The Executive Director requested that this item be deleted without discussion. It had already been deferred at the September 3rd and August 6th board meetings. The item asked for authorization to advertise a professional services contract to market EQ Biosolids from the District’s Harlem and Calumet plants. The September 3rd observer reported that it has been difficult to find sub-contractors that are qualified to sell the biosolids.
20-0659 Authority to rescind a contract for native landscape areas maintenance was deleted at the September 3rd meeting and was not on the September 17 agenda

Deferred Agenda Items

020-007 Request to Amend the Resources Recover Ordinance to reduce the tipping fee and increase Breweries’ willingness to sell and haul their waste to the Calumet Plant. Previously the waste was taken to Stickney, but Calumet is in need of the Carbon and Stickney isn’t. Comm. Morita deferred. Comm. Davis said he is in favor but would vote “no” because he had previously asked for a 30 day notice for ordinance changes.
20-0731 Comm. McGowan asked for deferral to advertise for bids for contracts, legal notices for original entrance and promotional civil service examinations, and other legal notices for a one-year period. No reason was given.
20-0738 Request to advertise for a Management Services Contract to perform real time energy reverse auctions and advisory services. Comm. Shore deferred as she wants to know how this fits in with the Districts “climate action plan”.
20-0744 Request to enter into agreement with AECOM Technical Services for civil consulting support services in an amount not to exceed $1.5 million. Deferred by Comm. McGowan without discussion.
20-0773 Purchase order with Next Generation Technology, Inc. for enhancements to the District’s new website in the amount of $300,000 was deferred by Comm. Garcia. Comm. Shore said that she found their initial presentation to be “underwhelming”. This contract with a different vendor was previously deleted by the Executive Director.

Future Items:

There will be a Study Session scheduled for October 1 at 1:00 to discuss concerns expressed by non-profits regarding how implementation of the District’s new Ethics Ordinance is impacting the non-profit community. Three speakers using audio technology addressed the virtual board meeting. Friends of the Chicago River represented two of the three speakers and asked for a moratorium on implementation of the Ordinance until concerns are heard and hopefully resolved. The Inspector General will attend the study session.
Comm. McGowan asked for a report covering Intergovernmental Agreements over the last three years. Report would contain the following information: 1) Total amount paid by MWRD and total amount of the Project; 2) Names of the partners in the agreements; and 3) List participation goals both for the MWRD and the IG partners. No time frame was given.

Diane Edmundson, Observer Meeting Length - 2 hours

0 Comments

MWRD Board Ramps Up Oversight Responsibilities

MWRD Commissioners ask for a Sharper Contract Bidding Process

MWRD Board Approves Funds for Disparity Study

Author

Archives

Categories