Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting - April 7, 2016
Major Items Discussed:
Update on rules for Public Speakers at MWRD Meetings: Commissioner Bradford’s change to the placement of public speakers at board meetings was deferred for a later date. Right now, public speakers can speak after each agenda item. The change would put all public speakers at the beginning of each board meeting. Late arriving speakers would have a second chance to speak at the end. Commissioner Bradford said that this would make meetings more orderly. Commissioner Avila disagreed and said that the meetings were orderly already. He also stated that he liked hearing from the public after each agenda item. The Board went into Executive Session at 11:40am and was expected to pass all agenda items on their return. Observer - Jan Goldberg Meeting Length - 1 hour 40 minutes
0 Comments
MWRD Board Meeting - February 4, 2016
There are odor issues at Thornton Quarry that the MWRD is taking steps to remedy before the Spring rains come. They will purchase 13 additional solar mixers to better aerate the combined sewer overflow water in the reservoir that fills the Thornton Quarry during and after a heavy rain event. MWRD will also purchase “odalogs” or odor detectors, for the Thornton Reservoir to better monitor low levels of Hydrogen Sulfide in the air immediately surrounding the reservoir. The odalogs (and shelters to house them) will be placed around the perimeter of the old quarry. There have been a dozen calls from households in Harvey over a month’s period for December through January, complaining about odors.It was suggested that odor results be posted on local towns’ websites which are adjacent to the Thornton Quarry, including Harvey, Homewood, Thornton, and South Holland. There are currently MWRD “hotline” contacts on these towns’ websites to be able to report any odor issues. The odalogs may be repurposed for any other MWRD site with odor sensitivity due to combined sewer overflows when the need arises. The 13 mixers will join seven already existing mixers that are anchored to the quarry floor and float on the surface of the liquid to mix the water in order to eliminate rotting odors. This total of twenty mixers is thought to be sufficient to aerate the water in the reservoir. Since smells were already detected in the winter, the MWRD finds it urgent to install both the detection machines and the mixers before the Spring rains begin. Observer - Amy Little Observers: Priscilla Mims and Laura Davis
Meeting Date: December 17, 2015 Significant Decisions Made: The 2016 Budget. The MWRD Board at a Special Meeting on December 10 voted to approve a budget of $1,251,955,410 for the 2016 fiscal year that begins January 1. Per law, the MWRD may revise the budget at the first regular Board meeting following that vote. At this meeting, the Board approved a $20,000 increase to the Corporate Fund, bringing the total budget to $1,251,955,430. The total budget for 2016 is $38 million higher, or 3.2% greater, than that for 2015. The total number of positions is 1,976 (6 more positions than in 2015). Motions to reconsider the budget failed, which means that the 2016 budget is now final. The full budget is available on the MWRD web site: www.mwrd.org. The 2016 Property Tax Levy. The MWRD also finalized the total 2016 property tax levy of $577,833,062. The MWRD votes separately for the tax levies for each of the different funds: Corporate, Construction, Reserve Claim, Stormwater Management, Retirement, and Bond Redemption and Interest funds. Motions to reconsider these tax levies also failed, meaning that the tax levy is finalized. This is $18 million greater than 2015, which is a 3.3% increase. Items to Watch for the Future: New rules for public speakers. Under existing procedures, speakers may speak separately up to 3 minutes each on any individual item. They may also ask questions within that time period. At this meeting, George Blakemore spoke separately on several different items. A member of the Green Party also spoke and raised questions on different items that were responded to by Executive Director David St. Pierre following the 3 minute speaker limitation. Commissioner Michael Alvarez suggested that the MWRD Board look at other government bodies’ rules for public speakers and change to conform to them. Presumably, this will mean allowing a speaker to only speak once, rather than separately on different items. It may also mean eliminating the ability of speakers to raise questions that will be responded to. Broadcasts of meetings. Commissioner Frank Avila asked that the Board look at televising the meetings on a public access channel. Currently, one can watch the meeting live via the web site, and videos of the meeting are made available on the web site after a short delay. Next Meeting: January 7, 2016 at 10 am. |
AuthorIndividual authors are credited at the end of each report. Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|