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 7, 2022

Land Use Policy:

• There were two local village representatives who spoke at the public comment period, one from Stickney, one from Forest View, both in support of proposed leases in their villages. 
• Com. Davis asked to discuss the merits of leasing individual parcels especially for long periods of time, (30 to 40 years) without having a comprehensive land use policy.  The nominal items that triggered the long discussion were 9, 10, 37, 40, 41 (22-0331, 22-0333, 22-0317, 22-0344, and 22-0345).  Com Davis argued that leasing parcels on a piecemeal basis was a bad idea before having a policy in place. 
• Coms. Garcia, Morita, and Corral-Sepulveda have been on the Land Use Committee gathering input from various commissioners and constituents.  Com. Garcia said that each lease had to consider the village zoning and surrounding land use of MWRD property, and that already 80% of MWRD real estate was set aside for preservation and natural space. 
• Com. Perry voiced alarm about 30 to 40 year leases that would tie the hands of the MWRD for years to come. 
  
• Com. Garcia and Coms. Morita and Corral-Sepulveda did not take issue with the first parcel (22-0331) in Forest View, because it was surrounded by industrial lands, but all three agreed, after much prompting from Com. Davis, that they would hold a study session before mid-June on comprehensive land use of MWRD real estate.  All commissioners gave verbal assent they would commit to attending a study session.  

Other Board Discussion and Action:

• There was once again abundant discussion about a contract forfeit for a small contractor because it could not deliver the material at its quoted contract price, brought up by Com. Davis.  Commissioners were indignant that the MWRD must forfeit contracts and have to go out for bid to spend larger amounts, with seemingly no consequence to the forfeited contractor other than they could not bid again for one year.   Dir. Perkovich had investigated since the last meeting, and said that the MWRD could pursue legal remedies even after forfeiting the contract, so in the end, commissioners agreed to the item, as long as the staff presents best practices regarding contracts from other public agencies to revise the consequences for breach of contract.  (Item 11, 22-0351)
• Com. Morita expressed interest in the very large labor contract for $12 million, wondering the particulars.  Staff explained that the contract was for seasonal and vacation union labor so the MWRD would not need to hire full time employees.  Com. McGowan asked that perhaps the contract could be broken down into three parts and Dir. Perkovich said he would work on this for the next meeting, the only advantage in one contract being the ease of administration by staff. (Item 13, 22-0306).  The item was deleted.
  
• Com. Spyropoulos asked to delete the knowledge exchange programs with Dubai and Singapore that were deferred from the last meeting. She took issue with both countries’ treatment of labor, women and LGBTQ.  MWRD has some of the best sewage treatment and stormwater practices in the world, and there should be a consequence for countries which do not adhere to US human rights standards.  The items were deleted unanimously.  (Items 31 and 32, 22-0291 and 22-0294)
  
• Chicago River Day is May 14.  Com. Spyropoulos and Com. Davis wanted to remind the board of the importance of volunteers to a public agency, speaking highly of Friends of the Chicago River as a great example.

All commissioners were in attendance in-person. 

Observed by Amy Little

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 1, 2021 

Board Action
Agenda Items: Commissioners pulled 10 agenda items for discussion.  Once discussed, all but item #34 were returned to the agenda and approved.  

Administrative:
Executive Director (ED) Brian Perkovich deleted item 32 (21-0300). 

• This item was the subject of 3 public comments at the start of the meeting.  Homeowners in the Ropolo subdivision asked Commissioners to vote in favor of Item 32 and end an annexation agreement between Elk Grove Village and the MWRD that would have allowed the Village to use MWRD land to “take our homes.” The annexation involved about 41 acres of MWRD land near the Majewski Reservoir. 
• Language in item 32 required the District in future annexation agreements to limit a municipality’s ability to pursue involuntary annexations of private property contiguous to District land.
• ​ED Perkovich deleted the item prior to public comments, apparently because a letter from an attorney representing the homeowners noted item 32 was not sufficient to meet a court order that required both the termination of the annexation agreement and a disconnection of the private properties from the Village.  

Affirmative Action Goals

• Most of the discussion in this meeting revolved around item 33 (21-0253) with Commissioners asking how MWRD affirmative action goals are enforced in project partnerships.  The MWRD often enters into intergovernmental partnerships to complete infrastructure projects.  
• Item 33 authorized $3 million payment to the Village of Mount Prospect to design, construct, and operate the Aspen Trails’ storm sewer and reservoir project. The Village was unwilling to apply affirmative action goals to the entire project, reportedly because specialized equipment was involved that was difficult to source from minority or women-owned firms.
• Commissioner Corral Sepulveda asked staff if the MWRD requires documentation of good faith efforts to apply the goals in these cases. Director of Engineering, Dr. O’Connor, said no.
• Commissioner Corral Sepulveda noted the Board was about to receive the 2021 disparity study, and asked staff and fellow Commissioners for suggestions on how the District can strengthen affirmative action goals in its intergovernmental agreements.
• ​Commissioner Garcia agreed hiring goals in partnership agreements should be stronger. 
• Commissioner McGowan said “We have a lot of these partnerships.  I’d like to know who the PCE’s (minority contractors) are who are hired, along with the dollar amount they received.   We need to keep up with all of this.  It’s quite a lot of money.”
• ​Commissioners requested a memo from staff showing all partners of intergovernmental agreements, with dollar amounts provided by each partner; identifying the contractors and minority contractors hired and how much each were paid. Commissioners want data to give them a sense of what dollars the MWRD, and its partners, are allocating to minority contractors.  Executive Director Perkovich agreed to provide the memo. 

Stormwater Management

• Item 34 (21-0254) was deferred by commissioner Shore to allow staff time to determine if the MWRD’s stormwater watershed management ordinance was more or less stringent than the one in Kane County.   Item 34 would have allowed the Village of East Dundee to enforce the Kane County ordinance in portions of Cook County.

Executive Session:

• The Board meeting opened at 10:30 am.  At 11:45 the meeting was closed for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining agreements.  The meeting was reconvened at 12:45 pm. 

Observer - Laurie Morse                     Length of Meeting: 3 hours including a one hour executive session

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
January 7, 2021

Board Action: 

• #1-3- 21-0018-0020  Election of 2021 Board officers: President, Commissioner Steel - Vice President, Commissioner McGowan and Finance Chair, Commissioner Garcia.
• #4-  21-0021  Board suspended the Rules of the Board and moved the appointment of the Chair & Vice Chair of standing committees to the next regular board meeting.

The following contracts were withdrawn from the consent agenda for further discussion. Many of the questions centered on resource recovery and on verifying that all green options were being actively pursued.

• #21-  21-0030- This contract involved collection, shipment and analysis of water samples at Thornton and McCook reservoirs. Commissioner Spryopoulos questioned why this was not done in-house. Staff said that MWRD does not currently have the special equipment required. 
• #22- 21-008 - Commissioner Davis pressed to broaden and expand the resource recovery in scavenger service contracts. Traditionally, much of the refuse has gone to landfill. Glass is one product that can be recovered.
• #28- 21-0036- The Board granted authority to enter an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Village of Chicago Ridge for construction of a Permeable Paver-Parking Lot. Commissioner Davis asked how early in the process they could put green infrastructure on the map. Can it be built in at the conceptual stage? Staff agreed that this was possible.

Deferral Of Agenda Item #27- 21-0037

• Authority was being sought to lease 21+ acres of Cal-Sag Channel Parcel in Alsip. It would  be used to construct a parking lot for semi-trucks. One public comment asked that this not be granted, or at least deferred. Several commissioners questioned whether environmental impact studies had been done. Staff assured them that all tenants are expected to follow requirements. Legal stated that there is no current MWRD need for the property. Commissioners Davis, Sepulveda, Shore and Spryopoulos all urged for deferral. Roll Call vote: Ayes  9   Item deferred.

New Business:

• Commissioners made remarks in reference to the January 6 assault on the U. S. Capitol. 
• Commissioner Shore asked for Board support in two areas: 1) Joining the Strategic Plan working group. 2) Joining the ethics study session where many administrative items need to be completed. 
• Commissioner Spryopoulos asked staff to look into the Water Resource & Development Act to ascertain what grants the MWRD might be qualified for. 

Observer - Georgia Gebhardt                                             Length of Meeting: 110 minutes