Category: Contracts

Procurement Procedures Discussed at MWRD Board Meeting

5/23/2021

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

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Grazing of Goats Discussed at MWRD Board Meeting

5/15/2021

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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

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MWRD Board Signals Intent to Press Affirmative Action Goals in Intergovernmental Partnerships

4/13/2021

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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

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MWRD Board Elects 2021 Officers

1/13/2021

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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

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MWRD Board Ramps Up Oversight Responsibilities

10/22/2020

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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

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MWRD Commissioners ask for a Sharper Contract Bidding Process

10/11/2020

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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

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Procurement Procedures Discussed at MWRD Board Meeting

Grazing of Goats Discussed at MWRD Board Meeting

MWRD Board Signals Intent to Press Affirmative Action Goals in Intergovernmental Partnerships

MWRD Board Elects 2021 Officers

MWRD Board Ramps Up Oversight Responsibilities

MWRD Commissioners ask for a Sharper Contract Bidding Process

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