Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
December 12, 2024

This meeting was for the sole purpose of approving the Adopted Budget for 2025.  This was approved unanimously with no discussion.  However, there is one more step in the budget process before the 2025 budget will be finalized:  on December 19, the Board will consider any final amendments which could impact the numbers given below.

Beth McElroy Kirkwood was appointed by Governor J.B. Pritzker to fill the empty Commissioner position as a result of former Commissioner Mariyana Spyropoulos’ election as Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court on Nov. 5.  Ms. McElory Kirkwood will serve as a Commissioner until November 2026 when someone will be elected to serve the remaining two years of Comm. Spyropoulos’ 6-year term.

The Adopted Budget of $1.695 Billion:

• Is slightly up from the Tentative Budget approved by the Commissioners in November, and slightly down from the $1.7 Billion proposed budget presented initially in October by the Executive Director.  It is also $266 Million more than the adjusted 2024 budget, or an increase of 18.6%.
• Includes an estimated total tax levy of just under $710 Million, a 2.6% increase over 2024 (or $18 Million more).
• Has an estimated total tax rate slightly less than 2024.  Applying the total tax levy to the anticipated Equalized Assessed Value (EAV) of properties within the MWRD District, the total tax rate is expected to be 33.85 cents per $100 of  EAV in 2025 vs. 34.17 cents in 2024.
• Has the largest increases (10% increase or more) over 2024 for General Administration, and for the Construction Fund and Capital Improvements Bond Fund (for a total Capital Budget that is 64.7% higher than 2024).
• Has a proposed reduction in Full Time Equivalent positions by 14 to 1,952.

Observer:  Priscilla Mims                             Length of meeting:  30 minutes

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
December 5, 2024

MWRD President Kari Steele commented that this might have been the shortest Board meeting ever.  For the first time (at least since the League has been observing), none of the Commissioners identified any of the 38 agenda items for discussion at the meeting.  The Commissioners said that all their questions had been answered by the Executive Director prior to the meeting.  All items were passed unanimously, and included:

• An amendment to the User Charge Ordinance which is to recover each user’s proportional share of the operations, maintenance, and replacement costs incurred by the MWRD for the treatment and disposal of sewage, industrial waste, and other wastes generated by the user.  This amendment will be effective January 1, 2025.  (Agenda item 1, #UC24-001)
• A number of purchase orders and awards of contracts.  Several of the low bidders for the contracts were well under the District’s estimate of the expected costs, including Items 21 (#24-1054, 25% lower), 22 (#24-1056, 34% lower), and 24 (24-1058, 14% lower).
• Authority to negotiate and enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Villages of Crestwood and Midlothian for the design, construction, land acquisition, maintenance, operation, and ownership of the Flood Control Project on the Calumet-Sag Tributary C for up to $5.5 M. (Item 38, #24-1099)

During the time for Public Comment a person from the Historical Society of Harvey raised objections to the taking of homes for the proposed flood control project there, which has been the subject of public comments over many recent meetings.

This was newly-elected Commissioner Sharon Waller’s first meeting. The seat formerly held by Mariyanna Spyropoulos, who was elected as Cook County Clerk for the Circuit Court, has not yet been filled by an appointee of the Governor.  All other Commissioners were present except Eira Corral Sepulveda.

Length of meeting:  50 minutes, including a 15-minute Executive Session.

Observer - Priscilla Mims

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
November 21, 2024

Public Comment

• Speakers for and against a new Stormwater facility in the Town of Harvey again addressed the Board.
• Item 36  #24-1018  This item, to grant the Wilmette Park District an 8-year easement to construct a new road configuration on a small piece of District land near the entry to Gillson Park, drew opposition from two speakers representing preservation groups in Wilmette.  They spoke in opposition to the Wilmette Park District’s plan to reconfigure a treasured landscape by altering road patterns in the park, and they asked the MWRD not to participate in these alterations. Steve Wilson, Executive Director of the Wilmette Park District, stood to defend the plan.   

Board Action
Item 36  #24-1018

• The MWRD Board approved item 36 as part of the consent agenda without comment.  
• Later, in the New Business portion of the meeting, Commissioner Davis stated that he did not want his vote in favor of the easement to be interpreted as support for the road alternations.

Items 1-5   #024-015, O24-016, 024-017, 024-018, 024-019

• The Board approved ordinances to issue $500 million in bonds.  At least $325 million of the dollars raised through the bond sale are reserved for capital projects.  Other money raised will pay general obligations of the District, including pension funding. Some of the bonds in the package are designed to reduce interest costs on existing debt.
• Commissioner Garcia pulled these five items from the agenda to thank Steve Lux, the District’s Treasurer and recognize a long list of financial advisory firms and bankers for their part crafting the bond package.   The bonding was later approved as part of the consent agenda.

Items 31-33 #24-1041, 24-1042, 24-1043

• The District ratified new labor agreements with three divisions of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 9.
• Commissioner Spyropoulos pulled these items to thank the unions and their members for their work at the MWRD.  

Items 10  #24-1027 and 14 #24-1013 were deleted from the agenda by Executive Director Brian Perkovich

Stormwater Management

• Item 41 #24-1049.  The District approved an intergovernmental agreement to fund about $2,500,000 for the acquisition of flood-prone properties and construct stormwater storage in Lyons Township.   This item was approved without discussion.
• In related business, (Item 37 #24-1019 and Item #24-1034) the Board approved settlements of eminent domain lawsuits for the acquisition of property for stormwater management in Robbins.   

Exiting Commissioners
Items 44 and 45.  

• Board members thanked Commissioners Pogorzelski and Spyropoulos for their service on the Board.
  
• Commissioner Spyropoulos leaves the board after 15 years of service, including serving as Board President from 2015-2019.

Observer - Laurie Morse                       Executive Session: No              Meeting length: 1 hour 45 minutes