Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
June 1, 2023

Authority to enter into thirteen [13] intergovernmental agreements with local communities for flood control was approved at this board meeting ranging in cost from $207,000 to $1 million dollars.  An additional two were approved including:  
(a)  Authority to negotiation agreements to assist various local municipalities with the condition assessment and the rehabilitation of sanitary sewers; and
(b) Authority to negotiate with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County for a multi-benefit Flood Control Project located between the village of Glenwood and the Village of Ford Heights.

In addition, eight (8) Furnish and Deliver contracts were approved two of which included Affirmation Action goals. Until the December 2022 update of the District's Affirmation Action Plan (AAP), Furnish and Deliver contracts were excluded from AAP goals.

With the exception of Item #24-0526 for landscape work which was deleted by the Executive Director without discussion, all agenda items were approved including the three items that were deferred at the May 18, 2023 meeting.  Several new items include:

• #9 23-0520.  Authorization to almost double the cost estimate for a project at the Stickney Plant prompted Commissioner Garcia to ask how many other government agencies include cost estimates in their bidding process.  Staff said only Chicago, and it is anticipating a discussion at the upcoming Procurement Study Session as Staff would like to start excluding a cost estimate in  RFPs. 
• #13 23-0459.  A purchase order and agreement with Deloitte prompted Garcia to repeat a request made in May that staff send a letter to contractors outlining the District’s new bidding policy.  This is one of the items that was deferred at the May 18 board meeting.  The goal is to allow for more bidders to qualify thru cross-certification with other government bodies such as the city and county.
• #15 23-0475. A purchase order and agreement with Princeton University for greenhouse gas monitoring and quantification at the MWRD facilities.  This item had also been deferred in May.
• #33 23-0555.  Authority to enter into a 50-year lease with the Chicago Board of Education for the nominal fee of $10, for the use of District real estate to include the development of a new soccer field for Northside College Preparatory High School.  Commissioner Davis requested that the staff extend its best effort to include a condition that the artificial turf used for the soccer field does not contact PFAS chemicals. 

No Exec. Session                     Absent:  Commissioner Sepulveda

Observer: Diane Edmundson

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
May 18, 2023

Commissioner Kimberly Du Buclet resigned from the MWRD Board.   She was selected to serve as  the State Representative of the 5th District after the resignation of Lamont Robinson who was recently elected as alderman of Chicago's 4th Ward.

​Deferred Agenda Items: (All 3 Items deferred at request of Commissioner Garcia)

• Agenda Item 19 23-0459 - This item was a purchase order for a contract for benefits consulting services with Deloitte Consulting for an amount not to exceed $150,000.  Commissioner Garcia questioned the proposed minority vendor participation of only 5%.  Diversity  Administrator  Martinez explained that they were the only ones qualified on the approved vendor list. Commissioner Garcia asked what the MWRD was doing to get more minority vendors on the approved list.  The MWRD has held virtual and in-person vendor fairs to encourage minority vendor participation. Commissioner Spryopoulos recommended that the District send letters about the modified vendor approval process to the registered vendors on the Cook County  and City of Chicago Lists.   Commissioner Garcia requested a report on everything the District is doing to contact  potential vendors and improve the registration process.     
• Item 21  23-0467 - This item was a  purchase order for a contract with WM Reply for intranet development for an amount not to exceed $380,000.00.   Commissioner Garcia questioned why he did not receive a report about this contract.  Since this was not a sealed bid contract, Commissioners currently do not get a separate report on it.  The contracts are listed on the website.  Executive  Director Perkovich said they would provide the Commissioners with reports of both open and closed bidding  going forward.
• Item 24  23-0475 - This item was a purchase order for a contract with Princeton University for greenhouse gas monitoring for an amount not to exceed $100,414.00 Commissioner Garcia asked if local universities were asked to participate and why there were no minority participation goals in the contract since it was for more than $100,000.  Executive Director Perkovich explained that Princeton is the only university developing these specialized sensors.   The outcome report will be provided to local universities.

State Legislation

• Item 45  23-0510  Formation of the 2023-2024 MWRD Committee on Local Government Efficiency. A new state statute requires all metropolitan governments to form a committee to look at efficiency of their operations and produce a report in 2024.   

Executive Session - ​There was an executive session but there were no announcements from the session. 

Observer:  Kathleen Graffam

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
December 1, 2022; 10:30 a.m.

Board Action:
Agenda Item #41-022-014B- Commissioners adopted the Affirmative Action Ordinance Revised Appendix D of the MWRD of Greater Chicago on an unanimous roll call vote.
Main provisions of the ordinance:

1. Certification from the City of Chicago, Cook County and other approved governmental agencies will be accepted.
2. Diversity Department will accept certification requests year-round instead of once a contractor is part of a winning bid.
3. The District will formulate a process for a Diversity Advisory Council during the next 6 months.
4. Furnish and Deliver contracts will be routed to Diversity. All Furnish and Deliver board letters will contain statements on whether goals can be added or not.
5. Diversity will develop a stand alone Small Business Program in 2023.
6. There will be reporting on a bi-annual basis.

President Steele reminded the commissioners that this is a living document and can be changed as circumstances evolve.

Agenda Item #2-22-1047:  The MWRD Board of Commissioners honored outgoing Chakena Perry, highlighting her impressive credentials. Ms. Perry is a graduate of Connecticut College and the University of Chicago. She has been the youngest commissioner on the Board. Commissioner Perry has been an activist in Planned Parenthood, chair of the Cook County Young Democrats and worked for environmental justice. 

Agenda Item #5-22-1080: The MWRD Board honored Nellie L. Jones (1976-1982) who was the first black woman commissioner at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. Ms. Jones was an architect of the first affirmative action program. Commissioner Perry introduced the extended family of Nellie Jones, whom she had invited to her last meeting. Several commissioners expressed interest in developing a program to further highlight and honor Ms. Jones.

Stormwater Management:

• Agenda Item 37-22-1071- The Board granted the authority to amend the Intergovernmental Agreement with the Board of Education of Chicago to extend the Space to Grow program through 2023.

New Business:

• As of December 8, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Building will be named the Barbara G. McGowan Building in recognition of the commissioner’s thirty-two years of service. 

Commissioner Comment:

• After the second public comments, Commissioner Davis expressed interest in an equity department. This would require legislative authority. It would cover more than just affirmative action.

Observer: Georgia Gebhardt                    Executive Session:  Yes

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
​November 17, 2022; 10:30 A.M.

Board Recognitions:

• The MWRD Board recognized retiring Inspector General Patrick M. Blanchard. Commissioners expressed appreciation for his integrity and wished him well in his retirement. Mr. Blanchard complimented the agency on its high standards of administration. 
• Commissioners Morita and McGowan were lauded for their service to the MWRD. Ms. Morita will be leaving to take a seat on the Cook County Board, while Ms. McGowan will retire having been the third longest serving commissioner in the history of the agency.

Much of the rest of the meeting was spent in discussion of a review of amendments to the Affirmative Action Ordinance. 

• Commissioner Corral Sepulveda was particularly concerned that the language of the ordinance be clear and concise, and that there be a common understanding of the intent of the document both among commissioners and the staff.
• There was a consensus that the MWRD would acknowledge the certification of other agencies, but would continue to be a self-certifying agency.
• Commissioner Corral-Sepulveda said that in examining the language, parts of the process could be confusing to those who were applying for certification. The process needs to be streamlined.
• Commissioner Spyropoulos  suggested it would be reasonable to accept the work that another agency had already done and to simply add whatever might be missing.
• Commissioner Corral-Sepulveda was concerned that the staff did not seem to be clear on the intent of the Board.  
• There was some discussion of the need for the verification process to be done before the bidding. Commissioner Morita asked why it could not be an ongoing process.
• President Steele expressed a hope that this be passed in December. However, there seemed to be many unanswered questions, leading Commissioner Garcia to suggest that another study session was necessary before finalization.
• The vote at this meeting would be to continue to review. (Agenda Item 22-014A, #38)

Agenda Items 22-0931, 0932, 0933 (#8, 9, 10)  Commissioners requested quarterly reports from lobbyists to monitor the progress of making companies responsible for PFAS. Commissioner Spyropoulous suggested that there be a specific schedule of dates for the reports. Commissioners Garcia, DuBuclet and Morita asked for updates from the executive director. 

Agenda Item 22-1033 (#37) This was an item to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Evanston as part of the green infrastructure program, one of  whose goals is to expand into the suburbs. The Executive Director reported they are working with consultants now to increase participation.  There has not been an overwhelming response from suburban schools. Commissioner Davis suggested it might be because there are no cohesive funders in suburban areas, like there are in the City of Chicago. Executive Director said they would work to improve outreach.

Consent agenda (#1-38) was unanimously approved on a roll call vote, except for #27 which was deferred.

New business: Will do a poll to find a date after Thanksgiving for study session on affirmative action amendments.
 
Observer: Georgia Gebhardt

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
May 5, 2022

Commission McGowan opened the meeting by calling for the deletion of the proposed amendment to the Affirmative Action Ordinance without discussion until the Board holds a Study Session on the recent Disparity Report.  No date has been set.  All nine commissioners voted to delete without discussion. Agenda Item #1 022-006.)    

Only two other items were pulled for discussion.  Both because the market rate for chemicals, in this case Sodium Hypochlorite and Magnesium Chloride, is widely fluctuating and the vendors do not want to commit to more than a year’s rate.  Hence, they will have the opportunity to rebid the rate for year two of the contract.  After an explanation that during each contract year, the rate would remain the same regardless of market conditions, the items were returned to the agenda. (Agenda Items #13 22-0397 and #17 22-0425.)

All agenda items were approved with the exception of Item #1 above and two others that were deleted by the Executive Director without discussion.

There were no Stormwater Management contracts on the agenda. No Executive Session was held and no New Business was offered

​Observer:  Diane Edmundson

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
April 21, 2022

At the prior meeting, Commissioners said a study session on a comprehensive study on the MWRD’s land use is needed in order to evaluate some proposals for leasing MWRD parcels.  At this meeting, the need for a study session on and a supplement to the Disparity Study was highlighted, and a proposed amendment to the Affirmative Action Ordinance was deferred.  President Steele ended the meeting urging Commissioners to coordinate their calendars so separate study sessions on each could be held very soon.

Proposed amendment to the Affirmative Action Ordinance to revise Appendix D to prohibit a prime contractor from utilizing its status as a Minority-owned Business Enterprise (MBE), Woman-owned Business Enterprise (WBE), or Small Business Enterprise (SBE) toward fulfillment of participation goals.  (Item 1, O22-006) 

• Many of the MWRD’s contracts call for stated percentages of MBE/WBE/SBE participation in the work done under the contract.  Currently, if the winner of the contract as the prime contractor is also one or more of these entities, that prime contractor’s status can be counted toward fulfillment of the required percentages.
• 4 speakers, 3 of whom represented associations of MBE/WBE/SBE entities, all expressed grave concerns and/or outright opposition to the proposed change.  As they explained, if an MBE, WBE, or SBE wins the contract as a prime contractor, there may not be other such entities which can perform part of the work.  One of the woman speakers owns a trucking firm, and said that she would not be able to find another woman-owned trucking firm to fulfill the WBE goal that would be set under the contract, so she needs to be able to count her business as meeting the goal. 3 of the speakers asked that the item be held until the Disparity Study was completed and made public.
• Comm. Garcia asked whether Collette Holt, the outside consultant who took the lead on the Disparity Study, has reviewed the proposed amendment.  Dr. Regina Berry, the Diversity Officer, said that Ms. Holt had reviewed this and did opine there were alternatives to achieving the goals of this amendment, though no specifics were given. 
• Comm. Garcia asked for a report from Ms. Holt based on Dr. Berry’s answer, and also asked for a supplement to the Disparity Study, which has obviously been circulated to the Commissioners, regarding LGBTQ and people with disabilities, as well as reviewing whether to expand the Affirmative Action goals to include furnish and deliver contracts (currently exempt).
• While there was discussion about deleting the item so it could potentially be revised and resubmitted at a future meeting, Comm. Morita requested deferral instead, which means it would come back to the Board without any changes.

Deferred or deleted items:

• Comm. Corral Sepulveda questioned the proposal to seek bids for two contracts of $8 million each to provide services as needed for construction or repair of District infrastructure for 3 years starting on Sept. 1, 2022.  A similar proposal for a single contract of $8 million for 2 years had come before the Board on Feb. 17, when the Commissioners asked that it be revised so more vendors could be involved.  Under this proposal, the contract was split between District property on the north and south side, allowing two different vendors to win the prime contract.  However, Comm. Corral Sepulveda said that she would like the contract to be further divided in order to be able to attract MBE/WBE/SBE entities, which often find access to capital to be one of their greatest barriers.  Comm. Garcia’s motion to delete this item passed.  (Item 11, 22-0378)
• Comm. Spyropoulos questioned why a bidding process to furnish and deliver sodium hypochlorite, a disinfectant, had a contract term of only 6 months.  Exec.Dir. Perkovich explained that vendors had told the MWRD that the price for such product is so volatile now that vendors would not be willing to lock in a price for a longer term.  This item was deferred.  (Item 15, 22-0397)
• Also deferred at the request of Comm. Spyropoulos was a proposal to seek bids to provide legal services for bankruptcy and collection matters for 2 years starting on Jan. 1, 2023.  

Also discussed:

• Proposed contract with ComPsych Behavioral Health Corp to provide telephonic counseling, tele-behavioral health services, and up to 8 face-to-face counseling sessions per employee for a 5-year period starting July 1, 2022.  Comm Davis thanked the staff for negotiating this because after the last several years, this service for employees was particularly needed.  A similar service has been provided, and data shows significant usage by employees over the first 3 quarters of 2021. (Item 19, 22-0373)

Stormwater Management Items passed:

• Authority to award a contract for a diversion channel for a flood control project on Midlothian Creek in Robbin for an amount up to $10 million (including a 5% allowance for change orders).  (Item 25, 22-0381)
• Authority to negotiate an agreement with Lyons Township and the Illinois Department of Transportation in connection with a flood control project along the Plainfield Road Corridor. (Item 33, 22-0395)
• Authority to amend an agreement with the Village of Western Springs for storm sewers and outfall to Flagg Creek in Western Springs.  (Item 34, 22-0394)
• Authority to negotiate an agreement with Maine Township, Maine Township Road District, and City of Park Ridge for a flood control project on Farmers and Prairie Creeks.  (Item 35, 22-0395)

Observer:  Priscilla Mims