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The following contracts were withdrawn from the consent agenda for further discussion.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

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
December 17, 2020 
​All Board members in attendance at various times

After amending the budget passed on December 10 to include a small salary increase for non-union employees, the Board approved a $1.2 billion budget for 2021 - an increase of $52,812 million over 2020.  FTE’s are budgeted at 1,941 which is a decrease of 12 employees.

All agenda items were passed. 

Items of Interest:

• Agenda Item #23 20-1141  Granted authority to advertise for bids for the McCook and Thornton Reservoirs Rock Wall Stabilization and Geotechnical instrumentation.  Estimated cost between $8.4 and $10,250 million.  No discussion.
• #43 20-1143  Agreed to a sublease between Skokie Motor Sales and Amazon.com Services for an initial consideration of $5,000 per year.  No discussion of how Amazon will use.  Parcel could have been considered for green space which is of interest to the Skokie Park District.  
• #45 20-1158  Granted authority to amend a long-term lease dating back to 1996 with the Village of Worth to allow for video gaming on the golf course which occupies the leased land.  Apparently, the golf course has never turned a profit and is hoping the video games will help. In addition, the rent was reduced from $25,000 to $5,000 per year.  In return, the District wants 25% of any gaming gross revenues.  It was mentioned that the new Strategic Plan for the District should look at large parcels of land such as this property for its highest and best purpose. 
• #49 20-1144 Granted an Intergovernmental Agreement with and payment to the CC Forest Preserve in the amount of $257,124 for a Flood Control Project from Roosevelt to Cermac Roads.

Green Alley Projects - Intergovernmental Agreements:

• #47 20-1142 Granted authority for an Intergovernmental Agreement [IGA] with and payment to the City of Chicago, via its Department of Transportation, for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the South Laflin Green Alley Project in the amount of $101.5 million. 
• ​#48 20-111143 Granted authority for another Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Chicago via its Department of Transportation for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Addison Green Alley Project in the amount of $150 million.
• Discussion covering both agreements centered on cost sharing and confirmation that the City is responsible for the inspection and maintenance of the two green alley projects.  In addition the District annually inspects to ensure compliance.  When asked about these locations versus others with large condo buildings that incur alley flooding, the Director of Engineering said that the District prioritizes home flooding over highrises.   Commissioner Spyropoulos requested a copy of the “standards of review” that were and are used for these projects and how they are prioritized.  [Several Commissioners have stated that they want to go beyond “shovel ready” projects and look at the disparity that exists for communities that do not have the resources to participate]   Davis requested social media be used to promote the projects, and he asked the Public Affairs Department to provide the board with a consistent message to use on social media. 

Intergovernmental Agreement with Chicago

• #50 20-1172 Granted an extension to an Intergovernmental Agreement with Chicago to share in the cost of a research pilot study in the Chatham Neighborhood to gain insights into the effectiveness of various technologies aimed at reducing basement backups and flooding – In other words “what would it take to arm a house against flooding”.
• This Agreement was to run from June 2017 to June 2019 but will now be extended to the end of 2022.  Sixty properties are to be identified in a desktop evaluation to then be reduced to forty at which point the Center for Neighborhood Technologies [CNT] will attempt to visit the homes to identify specific problems and possible solutions.  The District is not allowed to work on private properties which is why the CNT was hired.  The District’s share of the cost is $400,000 – the City’s is $210,000.
• Commissioner made the following requests:

1. Spyropoulos requested a chronology of the project progress, and Davis asked staff to include the reason for the delay. 
2. Morita and Spyropoulos asked that the IGA be extended to include full access to the data in the agreement.
3. Steele requested the updated criteria list that was used to select the homes and also a list of 311 calls.
4. Garcia requested the amount the Center for Neighborhood Technology is charging.
5. Spyropoulos requested the board receive the green handbook that has been developed out of the experience with recent Stormwater IGA’s.
6. Sepulveda requested information on CNT’s role in providing opportunities within the agreement to hire locally.

New Business

• Executive Director Perkovich announced that the MWRD is one of the water treatment utilities that was selected for a study sponsored by the U.S. Health and Human Services to determine if wastewater can detect COVID-19 prior to a mass outbreak.  Five of the seven plants were selected to participate in the study.  Lamont and Hanover Park are excluded.  Perkovich said that the details of the study are still fluid.

Biosolids Request

• After hearing that MWRD biosolids were used by the Worth golf course during its construction, Commissioner Garcia asked for a report on the volume used and an historical list and analysis of projects that have used the District’s biosolids.

Observer:   Diane Edmundson                                           Length of Meeting 3 hrs.      

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District  
Public Hearing on 2021 Tentative Budget
December 2, 2020

7 Commissioners present, with Comm. Garcia absent. 

There were 3 comments.  
Both Ryan Wilson of the Metropolitan Planning Council and John Legg of the Nature Conservancy separately urged that the MWRD appoint one person to head-up and be the point person for the MWRD’s Stormwater Trading Pilot that was adopted earlier this year.  While the failure of any developer to take advantage of this program may be due to COVID, both entities feel that having one dedicated person to head this pilot is crucial for its success.  Both also pointed to the Washington, D.C. project as an example of all that needs to be done to successfully launch the program.  The duties of this point person would include conveying consistent messaging to municipalities and developers and identifying barriers to getting the program launched, including any legislative barriers.  

• The Executive Director and Dr. Katherine O’Connor, the head of Stormwater Management, believe that they have sufficient people to implement the program and were reluctant to place a single person as a point person, though they were still willing to talk about this.  Comm. Morita suggested that even if a single person would not be working on this full-time, maybe a single person could be identified for communications with municipalities and developers.

Chelsey Grassfield of the Friends of the Chicago River urged that the MWRD reassess its real estate holdings of 6,000 some acres for use as stormwater management, as opposed to being looked upon as development opportunities.  Comm. Morita said that the MWRD has begun a land-use audit to look at best use for the land:  lease-out vs. leaving vacant for stormwater management.  Ms. Grassfield also stated that Friends had observed some instances at meeting where the attorneys representing the MWRD stated things that appeared to be inconsistent with MWRD policy.  The Commissioners and Executive Director wanted more details, which Ms. Grassfield said she would provide.

Observer:  Priscilla Mims                                         Length of meeting:  1 hour, 10 minutes

Metropolitan Water Reclamation Board (MWRD) Meeting - December 3, 2020

All 8 current Board members in attendance. Eira L. Corral Sepulveda will be sworn in as the 9th Commissioner at the MWRD’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 1 pm.

A common theme running through all the discussions of designated items was the importance of engaging the communities involved.  In some cases, the Commissioners verified that the communities had been involved prior to approving items.  In other cases, the Commissioners encouraged the staff to be sure the communities knew what was being done for them by the MWRD.

All items on the agenda were approved unanimously.  Following are some of the items discussed:

Stormwater Management:

• Item 33, 20-1079:  Authorization to negotiate intergovernmental agreements to assist with green infrastructure projects.  This is a revised version of Item 53, 20-1022, which was deleted from the Nov. 19 meeting agenda and was the focus of the Observer Report for that meeting.  In contrast to the Nov. 19 meeting, there was no discussion about what communities within the MWRD’s stormwater management area were contacted and asked to submit proposals.  In fact, the list of projects that were approved is identical to what was on the Nov. 19 agenda:  14 municipal projects plus 2 with the Cook County Forest Preserve District.  The only difference is in the description in the cover memo of what will be included in the agreement.  The agreements will require that the MWRD’s participation goals for Minority-owned Business Enterprises, Women-owned Business Enterprises, Small Business Enterprises, and Veteran-owned Business Enterprises be met for that portion of the project funded by the MWRD and will encourage that such goals be applied to the entire project.  Comm. Garcia said how pleased he was with the redrafted cover submission, but asked that these agreements also require the entities to purchase any needed bio-solids from the MWRD.  Once each agreement is negotiated, it will come before the Board for approval.
• Item 15, 20-1068:  Purchase order for professional engineering services for final design of a Flood Control Project in Robbins involving the Midlothian Creek.  This involves both grey infrastructure (that is adding pipes to carry stormwater runoff) and green infrastructure.  Staff assured Comm. Du Blucet that residents had been heavily involved at meetings and helped define the parameters of the project.
• Item 32, 20-1038:  Intergovernmental agreement with DesPlaines for acquisition of flood-prone properties.  Comm. Davis said he’d like to have staff develop a means to determine whether the MWRD’s acquisitions of land, such as this, are as effective as possible, especially taking into account disproportionately affected areas.

Prescription Drug Take-back Program:

• Item 26, 20-1073:  The existing agreement which provides for the Cook County Sheriff to collect excess prescription drugs which have been dropped off in MWRD-sponsored collection boxes, was extended through 2021.  Comm. Shore, who was acknowledged as the key Commissioner who got this program going with the County, said she hoped this would be the last year that the MWRD would be paying for this collection (about $6,000/month).  This is because the County ordinance setting up this program provides for the County to go back to the manufacturer of the drugs to obtain payment, rather than taxpayers who fund the MWRD.  The Sheriff is now able to determine who the manufacturer was.  Comm. Shore said the Sheriff has reported that about 20 to 25% of the drugs collected are opioids.  Collection of all these drugs means that they do not enter the waste water causing harm to living things.  Commissioners complained that when “googled” locations of these collection boxes, the MWRD’s do not come up.  Public Affairs has been trying to rectify for well over a year.  President Steele said she had a contact at Google, and Public Affairs will follow-up with her.

Installation of odor-control equipment at the Stickney Plant

• Item 11, 20-1049:  Purchase order for installation and maintenance.  Comm. Garcia wants to make sure Staff will be informing the communities with whom they previously met that the MWRD is being responsive to their complaints.  President Steele informed the Commissioners that the MWRD has just created a brochure on reporting odors, which is in both English and Spanish, which should be distributed in this area.  Comm. Shore asked that the information be summarized for use in a text message Commissioners and staff could send out, and Comm. Du Blucet mentioned there are a lot of neighborhood groups that could help get the word out.

New Business:

• Executive Director Perkovich gave an updated report on Covid’s impact on MWRD employees:  57 have tested positive, but 30 of these have recovered and returned to work.  Commissioners expressed concern for the workers and wanted to make sure there was ongoing review of the need for PPE, including face shields, and whether more can and should work from home given the current surge of cases in the area.  
• MWRD Annual Meeting:  Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 1 pm.  In addition to the President’s report, the 3 Commissioners who were elected on Nov. 3 for 6-year terms will be sworn in:  present Commissioners Davis and Du Blucet, and new Commissioner Selpuveda.

Length of meeting:  2 hours, 10 minutes (including a 25-minute pause for an Executive Session)
Observer:  Priscilla Mims              

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
​November 19, 2020 
Commissioners absent:  Morita

The Board approved all but one of the day’s agenda items.

Stormwater Management
Agenda Item number 53 (20-1022) was deleted by Commissioner Deborah Shore following a pointed discussion with staff about making policy without Board involvement or approval.  The discussion illuminated MWRD’s difficulty accepting stormwater responsibilities in communities outside the MWRD’s corporate boundaries, where it does not have a mechanism to collect revenue.

• Item 53 would have authorized MWRD staff to negotiate agreements with 16 local governments to assist with green infrastructure projects to improve drainage and prevent flooding.  Among the larger beneficiaries are the City of Evanston for its Main Street Improvements Project, the Village of Kenilworth for phase 2 of its Green Streets program, and the City of Berwyn for its Green Alley’s program.  The Evanston project would benefit 38 homes and buildings; the Kenilworth project 58 and the Berwyn program 114.   Documents provided did not offer a total dollar contribution by the MWRD, but costs of the 16 projects exceed $16 million.
• Commissioner Shore pulled the item to ask if all the communities in the MWRD’s Stormwater Management area (all of Cook County) had received letters seeking project proposals.  Dr. Catherine O’Connor, Director of Engineering, replied that letters were sent to all rate-paying communities, schools, etc.   On further questioning, Dr.  O’Connor said the 5 additional communities within the stormwater management area did not receive letters “because they don’t pay in.”
• Commissioner Shore asked by what authority staff could decide to deny stormwater funding to those communities, noting the MWRD’s stormwater service area is defined by legislative authority.  
• Commissioner Marcelino Garcia noted the MWRD gets funding for stormwater projects from State and Federal Government, and there are no grounds to distinguish between the District’s corporate boundaries and its stormwater boundaries for green infrastructure projects.
• “This should be a small issue, but it isn’t,” Garcia said. “Wastewater treatment, fine (keep within corporate boundaries), but stormwater is completely different.”
• Executive Director Perkovich suggested the best approach to resolve the situation might be to go to Springfield and ask that the MWRD’s stormwater and wastewater boundaries be identical.  
• President Kari Steele requested a sense of the board but didn’t specify if that meant going to Springfield or following the District’s already defined legislative authority.
• Commissioner Cameron Davis noted this was a will of the Board question, and invited Commissioners Shore and Garcia to consider making a motion to reflect the will of the Board. He suggested that they articulate a motion that could allow the Board to move forward on this issue.  Instead the motion to delete was unanimously approved.

Note:  There are 102 Cook County communities within the MWRD’s corporate boundaries and 27 partially within District boundaries. East Dundee, Frankfort, Park Forest, South Chicago Heights, and Barrington are the only five within the district’s stormwater authority that do not have a rate-paying wastewater treatment relationship with the MWRD.

Other Agenda Items:
Item 10 20-0974. Commissioner Garcia asked that Item 10 be pulled for discussion. 

• The item authorizes the District to advertise for bids on a $2.6 million hauling contract to transport the District’s biosolids.
• Included in the bid request is a form called an “Assist Agencies List,” which gives names and contact information for minority contractors who could be invited to assist the bidder in completing the work.  These smaller partners can help bidders meet minority and women-owned business goals set by the MWRD.
• Commissioner Garcia noted the “Assist Agencies” list was from 2019, and does not reflect the hard work he and others have done to include a wide range of minority contractors in MWRD contracts.  
• When he asked when to expect an updated list, staff replied they “were working on an update;” that contact information on the list is constantly changing, and “they want to make sure they get one good list, are trying to do the list only once a year, and don’t want to be doing changes one at a time.”
• Commissioner Garcia replied that the list is on the website, and it is easy enough to update there.  He reminded staff that he has contact information for many organizations if it is needed.
• The item was returned to the agenda and eventually approved.  

Item 41 20-1018   Commissioner Shore pulled this item because it funds in part additional personal protective gear for workers.

• Commissioner Shore questioned staff about the relatively high numbers of MWRD workers becoming infected, and asked, with rising COVID-19 numbers in Illinois, if the MWRD was making plans to lock down further.   She and nearly every other commissioner expressed concern for the health and safety of the agency’s workers.  
• Commissioner Shore, referring to decisions that may need to be made, said “I think the District needs to be a leader in this,” and noted that she worried the District wasn’t taking the virus seriously enough.
• Executive Director Perkovich agreed it was a fluid situation and said he was always balancing twin goals: Protecting the workforce and protecting our communities with ongoing wastewater treatment.  
• President Steele said they were all concerned, and speaking for the Agency, said all the organization’s leaders need to be standing by, and be prepared to have the conversation about how to move forward if the situation intensifies.  
• This item was returned to the agenda, and eventually approved. 

New Business

• Commissioner M. Frank Avila received personal greetings and praise from fellow members as he retired from the MWRD Board.  Commissioner Avila was hired as a professional engineer by the MWRD in July 1962.  After running his own engineering business for many years, he was elected Commissioner in 2002, and put in 18 years of service as a Board member, re-elected in 2008 and 2014.  
• The MWRD announced it will name the Stickney treatment plant’s administration building after Commissioner Avila.

Observer’s Name:  Laurie Morse                                         Length of Meeting: 2 hours

Special Meeting of the MWRD’s Committee on the Budget & Employment
November 5, 2020

On October 13, the Executive Director presented his 2021 budget recommendation.  At today’s meeting, the Committee voted to accept some slight increases to that recommendation, which still result in a small overall decrease from 2020 of 2.1% currently.  The proposed 2021 tax levy may increase by 1.1%.  However, all numbers could still change before final approval of the budget, scheduled for December 17.
Next steps:

• Commissioners to provide further ideas for the budget to President Steele, which are incorporated into a second set of changes.  Upon approval, these are included in what is referred to as the “Tentative Budget” which will be posted on the web site.
• Dec. 3 at 2 pm:  public hearing for the public to weigh in on the Tentative Budget
• December 10 (time not yet set):  Special meeting to consider the Tentative Budget with any further changes
• December 17 at 10:30:  regular Board meeting, with one last opportunity to further amend the budget

Proposed budget as it currently stands (incorporating changes approved on Nov. 5);

• Total appropriation request:    $1.127 B, decrease of $24 M from 2020, or 2.1% reduction
• 2021 estimated tax levy (a portion of the total appropriation):  $658 M, increase of $7 M from 2020, or 1.1% increase of levy.  However, the estimated cost per $100 of Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) is 23.61 cents for 2021 vs. 23.90 cents in 2020
• Total positions:  1,938, a decrease of 15 positions from 2020
• If the past is any indication of the future, these numbers will likely go up with further revisions

At this meeting, all major department areas of the MWRD presented highlights of their accomplishments in 2020, along with key initiatives for 2021, all of which are reflected in the Executive Recommendation, as amended at this meeting.  These areas include:
Stormwater Management Fund  --

• There continues to be an issue with levies greater than what is being spent.  MWRD’s responsibility for storm-water management began in 2004, with bonding authority received in 2014.  It takes a long time to identify and implement projects.  2021 levy will remain flat.  COVID responsible for delaying or cancelling some projects in 2020.  
• Comm. Shore recommended a placeholder be added to the budget for someone to help get the Stormwater Trading Project going and oversee the rollout.
• Comm. Du Buclet asked whether there has ever been a study on racial impact.  Not based on race, but there is a map reflecting disproportionate impacted communities (focus on income, not race).  MWRD using this to develop where shove-ready projects should be identified.  
• Comm. Avila reminded that MWRD only has jurisdiction in Suburban Cook County as Chicago has its own stormwater management operation.

Monitoring & Research – included in 2020 highlights was providing samples of wastewater for surveillance for Covid-19

Procurement & Materials Management – moved up and fully implemented electronic bidding and signature process as a result of needs due to COVID-19

General Administration – Planned space\use study halted due to COVID; no provision to do this in 2021 budget.  In Diversity section, President Steele said she wanted to add a position.  Plan is to conduct an affirmative action disparity study for purposes of evaluating MWRD’s Affirmative Action Policy.  With regard to Public Affairs, Comm. Du Buclet asked how the MWRD can be more visible to the public.  Comm. Garcia wants translator to appear at more events.

Board of Commissioners (includes Treasurer and Legislative Section) – Comm. Shore would like to put excess funding released from TIF districts toward Retirement Fund, as was done last year.  Told would be done.  Currently expecting $19 M.

​Retirement Fund – at 56% funding and holding steady

Additional Comments at end from Comm. Davis:

• As part of the Climate Action Plan, wants to establish benchmarks for adding electronic vehicles to MWRD’s fleet.  Suggested 50% by 2025 and 100% by 2030.
• Expressed concern about the Thornton composite reservoir as the clock is ticking on the transitional reservoir.  This impacts flooding in the South Suburbs.  Comm. Davis suggests that green infrastructure projects should be prioritized here to provide capacity to prevent/reduce flooding.  Comm. Davis impressed with the acquisition work in flood plains and flood-prone properties in this area.  He also applauded the work on identifying disproportionately-affected areas as important for prioritizing projects.

Observer:  Priscilla Mims                                                       Length of meeting:  4 hours