Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting  –
November 7, 2024

Prior to the start of its formal agenda the Board heard 45 minutes of testimony from 12 people –most residents of the town of Harvey --regarding the MWRD’s proposal to buy out a dozen flood-prone homes in the town and use those parcels to construct a stormwater holding basin. There were comments in favor of and against the plan. The Board had also heard comments from Harvey residents at the October 17th Board meeting.   

• Christopher Clark, Mayor of Harvey and several current and former Alderman spoke in favor of the stormwater basin construction and thanked the Board for approving the project, saying payments to residents for their homes seemed generous.  They were wearing T-shirts reading “Harvey Supports Water Basin.”  
• Those in opposition cited distrust of the Mayor; fear the project was too close to a school and confusion about why the 12 homes had been selected when there were hundreds of abandoned properties in Harvey.   An elderly resident whose home would be demolished in the plan said she was too old to move, lived alone, and did not know where to go.   
• The Board did not respond to comments; President Steele offered to assist the elderly resident.

Stormwater Management

• Item 10. #24-0982 and Item 25. #24-0971.   In agenda item 25, the Board increased without comment the amount of an existing purchase order for small streams maintenance (group A) by $347,000 bringing the new total cost to $3.9 million for work contracted to J&L Contractors, Inc.  Clearing streams of brush and deadfall facilitates stormwater flow throughout Cook County, and is a tool for flood prevention.  Agenda item 10 provided authority for the MWRD to advertise a new contract for stream maintenance at an estimated cost of $3.9 million.  This was also passed without discussion.
• Item 37. #24-0995. The Board accepted without comment a report from the Stormwater Management Committee saying a project to acquire 2 flood-prone properties in Northlake at a cost of $550,000 was cancelled because the homeowners were not interested in selling their property.

Industrial Pollution

• Item 30  #24-0956.  Report on public notification of dischargers found to be in significant noncompliance of pre-treatment standards or other requirements during 2023.  This is an annual report of industrial polluters, which in this case included two pages of corporate names. 
• ​Commissioners Davis and Flynn pulled this item from the consent agenda for discussion. Their questioning focused on the procedures, penalties and timelines for escalating sanctions against non-compliant dischargers.  Staff answered Commissioner questions and the item was returned to the agenda.

Phosphorus Removal

• Item 11 #24-1007.  The Board agreed without comment to advertise a contract for chemical phosphorus removal from wastewater with an estimated cost between $16 and $19 million dollars.

General

• Item 19 #24-0991. Without discussion the Board awarded a $20 million contract for rehabilitating Salt Creek Intercepting Sewer #3 to Inliner Solutions, LLC.  
• Item 4 #0985.  Toward the end of the meeting President Steele brought forward a resolution on the part of the Board of Commissioners to adopt Volume 1 and certain portions of Volume 2 of Cook County’s multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan. 
• Other resolutions recognized Veteran’s Day, October as Hindu Heritage Month, and November as National Native American Heritage Month

The entire consent agenda was approved.

Observer - Laurie Morse                       Executive Session: No          Meeting length: about 2 hours

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
April 15, 2020 

Public Comments
All the public comments concerned these two agenda items:

• Agenda Item 43#21-0357  Termination of annex agreement with Elk Gove Village
• Agenda Item 44#21-0358  Policy adoption on limits on municipalities’ actions following an annexation of MWRD land.   If the municipality then annexed land adjacent to the MWRD land, it could not condemn those properties for three years. 

Seven residents  that lived near the MWRD land  that was subject to the annexation   by Elk Grove Village spoke against the proposed policy of the MWRD to prohibit condemnation of annexed property for only three years. They were concerned that once the MWRD land was annexed, Elk Grove Village would then try to annex their area.  The lawyer for Elk Gove said the  village was able to acquire the needed land and no longer wanted to annex the MWRD land.  The policy consideration was withdrawn at the beginning of the meeting by Executive Director Perkovich.  During the meeting, the Board approved the termination of the annex agreement.

Agenda Items
Commissioners pulled 10 agenda items for discussion.  Once discussed, all items were returned to the agenda and approved.

• Agenda Item 10 #21-0356  Treasurer Boyle spoke to this item that would allow the MWRD to participate in the federal-state Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program. It  would provide up to $100,000,000 in low-cost financing for local projects.  They are reviewing which projects would be eligible for this grant.
• Agenda Item 36 #21-0331 Authority to increase the contract for reuse of biosolids.  This is an ongoing multiyear contract with Stewart Spreading, Inc.   Commissioner Spryopoulos asked that a more detailed report be given at a future meeting for the specific amounts last year, this year, and future projections. 

Administrative

• Executive Director Perkovich deleted Agenda Item 44 #21-0358 Authority to adopt a policy relating to requests submitted by municipalities on annexation of unincorporated District land. The policy would limit a municipality’s ability to pursue involuntary annexations of private property contiguous to District land.

Stormwater Management

• Agenda Item 45 #21-0254 Authority to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Village of East Dundee to allow East Dundee to enforce the Kane County Stormwater Management Ordinance.   This item was deferred from the April 1 meeting.  There was no discussion.
• Agenda item 46 #21-21-0342  Authority to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the village of LaGrange Park for construction of a permeable pavement reconstruction not to exceed $272,000.
• Agenda Item 48 #21-0344 Approval of an intergovernmental agreement with Park Ridge to help with flooding problems.  A stormwater capture facility will be built.  MWRD’s payment not to exceed $950,000.

New Business

• President Steele announced that the public relations department created an animated video of the book, Where Does It Go.   It will be available on the web site.
• Commissioner Morita announced that MWRD materials are being translated into Chinese.

​Observer - Kathleen Graffam                                             Length of meeting  1 hour 45 minutes

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting - November 1, 2018
Commissioners present: all except  Josina Morita.

Public Comment time at this meeting concerned the following.
Summary of Issue:
The Cook County Dept. of Transportation made a request for an easement for a road to be built across the tenth hole of Canal Shores Golf Course in Wilmette. The Keefe Trust is the actual party benefiting from said easement. The Trust purchased the property several decades ago with the knowledge that there was no road to the parcel. Since the Wilmette Park District leases the land which contains the golf course, the Keefe Trust applied for permission to build a road across the tenth hole of the course, running alongside existing houses at Golf Terrace. Wilmette Park District denied application stating this was a use of public land for private profit.  
It is unclear why  Cook County and its transportation department became involved and made this request to the MWRD Board when  the  beneficiary of the easement grant would be the Keefe Trust.

Public comment:
Thirty-three citizens against the easement testified over a period of three hours, making the following points:

1. Ecological concerns-construction would destroy wetlands & wildlife habitats
2. Canal Shores, a public course, has been used by residents of Wilmette and Evanston for 100 years. It is a great recreational resource for the community.
3. Protection of green space is a public good now more than ever.
4. Course is used for bird watching, cross country skiing, walking, not just golf.
5. This is a good governance issue. This is public land preserved for the use of the public. Taking this land for the benefit of one private developer is not defensible.
6. Taxpayers will end up bearing the cost of the road and its maintenance.
7. Fear of litigation from Keefe Trust is no reason to grant the easement.
8. This will not increase tax revenues because the road will cause existing properties to lose value.
9. Wilmette Park District counsel stated that they will not stand for a decision that violates the terms of the lease.
10. Building a road will cause more flooding of basements in the area.
11. Golf Terrace homeowners will be harmed by this decision. They will have a road in front and behind their homes, resulting in safety issues for children and a loss of property values.
12. The connection between the Keefe Trust  and the law firm of Senate President Cullerton was raised. Is political connection being used to exert pressure on commissioners?

Comments/questions from Commissioners:

• There was confusion over who would actually pay for the road and its maintenance. John Yonan from the CC Highway Dept. was not able to give a definite answer. He suggested there might be a public/private partnership. 
• Commissioner Walsh warned of litigation if the easement was not granted. Also, he seemed to feel it was somehow wrong to deny a request from another governmental body, in this case Cook County Transportation Dept.
• Commissioner Shore asked for an estimate of the cost of building the road. Yonan said there were too many variables and he could not answer at this time. Ms. Shore was confused as to why Keefe was involved if it is a Cook County request. She also suggested it was hard to see how building a road furthers the mission of the MWRD - that is, to protect water and to manage flooding.
• Commissioner Dunkin was visibly upset about spending three hours of board time on testimony about a sliver of a golf course in a wealthy area of the county. He said areas like Englewood receive little attention, though there is great need, while elite areas of the North Shore get an inordinate amount of attention. He called for a vote up or down and then movement to matters of more importance.

Commissioner Avila moved to defer this issue, and this ended the morning session. 

Observer - Georgia Gebhardt                       Meeting length: three hours (10:45 a.m.-1:45 p.m.)

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting - September 20, 2018 

Public Comments

• Three speakers, Leslie Shad, Natural Habitat Evanston and Citizens for Greener Evanston; Brian Abbott, Commissioner from Wilmette Park District; John Olvany, resident and Wilmette Park District Commissioner, all urged the MWRD Board to oppose a potential request from the Cook County Highway Department for an access road, which they believe will only benefit a private developer. Shad and Abbott expressed concern about the impact of the proposed road on the Canal Shores Golf Course, which is a recreational destination beyond golfing.  Additional concern was expressed about the desire to preserve the habitat.
• George Blakemore expressed concern about the lack of public input into the search process for Executive Director.
• Mike Archey from GTM Strategies expressed concern about the procurement process.

Board Actions

• #18-0922 – A motion to adopt a policy providing parental leave to Commissioners was removed by a vote to delete from the consent agenda.  This item had been deferred at the 9/6/18 Board meeting. Reports Filed
• #18-0953-This item prompted discussion after Commissioner Dunkin raised questions about the number of change orders on a west side project in a brief period of time.  Mr. Murray provided an explanation on the process for approving change orders.  Report from Engineering Committee
• #18-0946- Declaration of an emergency and ratification of execution of contracts to conduct an investigation into and repair damage caused by the 8/20/18 roof collapse at the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant.   In response to questions, Mr.  Murray provided an overview of the scope of the necessary work, ie. removal of debris, building walls before winter to protect equipment.  He also indicated that the contractors’ work on this project is being monitored by MWRD staff. Report from Maintenance and Operations Committee
• #18-054 – Authority to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement  (IGA) with and make payment to Leyden Township.  Question was raised about an IGA with a township, which is unusual.  The response was the project is in an unincorporated area, where there is no municipality.  In response to Commissioner Dunkin’s question regarding, when the project will be completed, the project should be finished in 2019.  Authorization approved.

Other Comments

• Mr. Murray provided an update on the employees, who were injured in the Calumet explosion.  All employees have been released from the hospital; however, one employee is in rehabilitation.

Items to Watch for in the Future

• While not an item, the potential request by the Cook County Highway Department to construct a roadway has significant community interest especially due to its potential negative impact on recreational and environmental assets.
• #18-0922 – Policy providing parental leave for Commissioners

​Observer - Diane Hodges                                     Meeting Length - 1 Hr. 20 Min.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting - January 18, 2018                         

Meeting Length: 50 minutes
What did the Board decide:

• Authorized the Morton Grove Niles Water Commission request for an 18-month construction easement and 70-year non-exclusive easement to construct, install, operate, maintain, repair and remove 3 subterranean water mains on part of the North Shore Channel and beneath the North Shore Channel in Evanston and Skokie, IL.  Consideration shall be a fee of $45,500 for the temporary construction easement and an initial annual fee of $65,479 for the 70-year easement.  It is expected that traffic and bike paths may need to be rerouted during the 18-month construction phase.
• Approved appointment of 8 attorneys for hearing appeals and conducting proceedings under the MWRD of Greater Chicago User Charge Ordinance, Sewage & Waste Ordinance, the Sewer Permit Ordinance and the Cook County Watershed Management Ordinance, effective January 1, 2018.
  
• Reviewed the RFP for a two-year legal services contract for Workers’ Compensation Defense, not to exceed $375,000, expected to be awarded April 19, 2018.  There was general board discussion regarding  to request an  hourly cap for legal services expenses, and apply to all legal contracts as they renew.
• Reviewed the following bids that were opened January 9, 2018:
  1. Demolition at Addison Creek Reservoir and Thornton Reservoir - There was general discussion regarding the notice requirements to the surrounding community prior to demolition.  As the demolition is of pre-fab style buildings it is expected that there will be limited demolition noise affecting the community.
  2. Buffalo Creek Reservoir Expansion
  3. Perform Olfactometry Analysis of Odorous Gas Samples
  4. Furnish and Deliver Station Battery Equipment
  5. Furnish and Deliver Two Debris Baskets for the Influent Channels Kirie Water Reclamation Plant.

Recognitions and Appointments:

• Recognized Lewis Myers, Jr., one of the most outstanding civil/human right lawyers in the country in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
• Recognized Bing Chin for his service and contribution of 36 years to the Army Corps of Engineers and his 80th birthday.
• Approved reappointment of Donald J. Storino as Member of the Civil Service Board of the MWRD of Greater Chicago, term commencing February 1, 2018 and ending January 31, 2024.
  

Observer - Nancy Mitzen