Category: Water Quality

Remote Closed Session Attendance Rules Discussed at MWRD Board Meeting

10/17/2021

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
October 7, 2021
Board Members Absent - Cameron Davis and Josina Morita

Board Action:

Commissioners pulled 9 agenda items for discussion. Once discussed, items 18 and 45 were deferred, while remaining items on the consent agenda were approved, including item #38 [21-0801], a lease agreement with Argo Construction that would allow them to expand their operations on 4 acres of MWRD land on the Main Channel in unincorporated Cook County, including barge operations. Mr. Rick Raymos, an Argo executive, spoke in favor of the lease during public comments, citing jobs and economic growth as benefits. This item had been deferred by Commissioner Davis at the September 23 meeting.
Most of the meeting was consumed by a debate among Commissioners about proposed changes to Board rules that might allow, under certain conditions, an absent member to attend executive sessions remotely, after the pandemic emergency has passed. Commissioner Marcelino Garcia pulled the item for discussion, arguing in favor, saying it might be prudent to “allow those not here in person to attend executive sessions in a room not accessible to others,” noting an in-person quorum was still needed. Commissioner Corral Sepulveda agreed, while Commissioner Shore was concerned that the Board could not ensure confidentiality if a board member was attending remotely, and the change could potentially expose the Board to litigation. Commissioner Spyropoulos is in favor of the rule change. However, Commissioner McGowan disagreed saying that she is not in support, and that the pandemic should not be used as an excuse to make their job easier. “I don’t support this at all,” she said, “I can’t see why we all can’t come to work.” With that comment she deferred the item [#45 21-0923] for further study.
Commissioner Eira Corral Sepulveda deferred item #18 [21-0879], permission to advertise a $2 million contract for janitorial services for the MWRD’s headquarters building on Erie Street in downtown Chicago. The Commissioner asked the Executive Director to report back on if the building paid a prevailing wage to janitors.
Executive Director Brian Perkovich deleted item #19 [21-0880], which would have authorized the Agency to advertise for a contract for employee training on workplace behavior. No reason was given.

New Business:

Commissioner Shore “made a proposal to add a new protocol to require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test in the last 48 hours for anyone entering the Board Room to attend the Board meeting”.

Item Of Interest

The Board approved entering into an agreement with the University of Illinois at Chicago, for preliminary review of the potential for Water Reuse in Cook County in an amount not to exceed $100,000. Item #28, 21-0906.

Observer: Laurie Morse Length of Meeting including 85 min. Exec. Session: 3 hours

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MWRD Strategic Plan (2021-2025) Adopted Unanimously

6/5/2021

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
June 3, 2021; 10:30 a.m.
Present: Commissioners Steele, Corral Sepulveda, Du Buclet, Morita, Shore, Spyropoulos, and Davis.
Absent: Commissioner McGowan; Commissioner Garcia (after executive session)
Staff: Executive Director Perkovich

Board Discussion and Action:

21-0501 MWRD Board of Commissioners adopted the Strategic Plan (2021-2025) on a unanimous roll call vote: 7 ayes 0 nays 2 ab. All commissioners made enthusiastic statements in support of the process and praised the work of the team.
21-0502 Three fifths of the public comments urged the Board to support the resolution recognizing water as a basic human right and that water should remain in the public trust. Roll Call: 7 ayes 0 nays 2 ab
21-0494 Deferred by request of Commissioner Garcia.
21-0477 Commissioners discussed purchase of thirteen electric utility vehicles. ED Perkovich reported that the electric vehicles had not done well in our climate in the past, but improvements have been made. Vehicles will be used only in plant. They are initially more expensive, but better for the environment. President Steele said a cost comparison had been done and asked Director Perkovich to circulate that information to the commissioners. Roll Call: 7 ayes 0 nays 2 ab
21-0495 Commissioner Shore questioned the Streambank Stabilization Project on the Calumet Union Drainage Ditch. She noted that the Cal-Union District was not contributing to the expense. Director Perkovich stated the district did not have the resources to contribute and that they do not own the ditch. The MWRD has the right to dissolve these drainage districts. Commissioner Shore stated it would be a public service to dissolve these districts that continue to assess fees to taxpayers. Since the MWRD does the work and has the responsibility, she asked staff to have preliminary conversations on this issue. Roll Call: 7 ayes 0 nays 2 ab

There was an executive session from 11:44 a.m. to 12:21 p.m. Upon return from executive session, the Board passed the remaining agenda items on a roll call vote. 7 ayes 0 nays 2 ab Meeting adjourned at 12:48 p.m.

Observer: Georgia Gebhardt Meeting Length: 2 hours 15 minutes

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Water Reclamation Board Continues to Focus on Increasing Efficiency, Fairness, and Best Practices

5/25/2018

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting - May 3, 2018
What did the Board decide?

Authorization for continued participation for 2021-2022 in a voluntary curtailment program (DR)) with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Letter to the Board from Executive Director David St. Pierre stated “Through voluntary curtailments by the District and other participants, the curtailment providers have been able to defer the need for additional generating capacity to meet the short-lived peak demand. ”The MWRD has participated in this since 1988 and has led to $12.97M in revenue for reducing electricity usage at designated times. One question was whether MWRD would be penalized under this agreement if we fulfilled all commitments made, but other parties do not. The answer was NO. Authorization was approved. (Agenda Item 5 (18-421))
Purchase Order regarding delivery of sodium hydroxide to Olin Corp. Question was whether MWRD was exploring use of other chemicals, perhaps magnesium for Chicago River to meet permit requirements for removing phosphorus from the Chicago River. Three million pounds of phosphorus have bee removed from the Chicago River. The concern relating to future costs arose because of an unexpected 50% increase in cost of chemicals. St. Pierre stated he would not offer an estimate for future costs of the project. Purchase order was approved. (Agenda Item 8 (18-0397))
Implementation of Energy Efficiency Projects - Commissioner Shore explained there is successive series of contracts to complete these efficiency projects through Public Building Commission. One questions was whether the MWRD could have managed these projects. St. Pierre stated the Board did not direct movement in that direction though the department personnel could have done it. Also, grants have been received from the state, rebates have been received from Nicor and ComEd. Projects were approved. (Agenda Item 15 (18-0411))
Paid Parental Leave for non-represented employees was approved without discussion. (Agenda Item 29)

Observed by: Carolyn Cosentino Meeting Length: 40 min.

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MWRD and Friends of the Chicago River Partner to Create "Overflow Action Days"

3/19/2017

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting - March 16, 2017

The meeting began with a packed house, standing room only, and a party atmosphere complete with refreshments, due to the fact that no less than 6 people and groups were being honored and brought large contingencies of supporters with them. Honorees included retiring ABC Reporter Charles Thomas and individuals/groups working on clean water initiatives. Excitement was definitely in the air.

Highlights from the Meeting:

Friends of the Chicago River was honored for their new working relationship with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MRWD). Out of this relationship has come a new concept called “Overflow Action Days”. Cook County sewers fall into the “combined” sewer type. This means that both rainwater runoff and sewage flow into the same system. When rainfall is fast and furious this combined system has to overflow the excess water into Lake Michigan untreated. The Deep Tunnel project has been able to handle a good amount, but not all, of this overflow. The rest is up to the citizens of Cook County. Much like Ozone Action Days, Overflow Action Days will alert the citizens to be extra vigilant in their conservation of water.They will be alerted to take shorter showers, flush a little less, put off that laundry for a day or two, etc.
India with its 1.2 billion people suffers from dirty water and water borne diseases. Engineers from that nation reached a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commissioners of MWRD and were honored for this work. They came to Chicago to work with our engineers in water treatment. They said that “MWRD is the best in the world at solving water pollution problems and have the history to prove it.” This same group came to learn about how Brookfield Zoo handles its animal waste because they have a reputation for being excellent in this area.

After the first recess, the Committee of the Whole came back to tackle some issues from the Finance Committee. These issues had to do with consulting firm costs and awards for good budgeting. This part took a good deal of time.( I do not think the issue of committees versus the whole board has been resolved. I was confused by the recesses and reconvening of what seemed to be the same group of people each time.)

The Water Treatment Plant at Stickny,Illinois is the largest water treatment plant in the world. It is currently recovering the most phosphorus also. The process is economical, successful, and reliable, according to Director St. Pierre. Comm. Avila questioned the making of fertilizer pellets from the recovery of this material. Companies are currently bidding for these pellets. Comm. Durkin had questions about the management of the plant. Comm. Shore had questions about the PH build up in the pumps. The director answered all of the questions with optimism and said that all of their issues would be resolved soon. He expects this plant to collect 10,000 tons of phosphorus each year. This recovery will keep all of our waterways cleaner.
Bucket Day: - The MWRD sells compost to the public and to landscaping companies. About 50,000 tons of compost are for sale most years. Bucket Day will be sometime in May when the public can go to certain locations to buy this compost. Comm. Shore asked about sales tax. (Legal will look into that). Comm. Morita and Comm. Steele asked to have copies of the ads placed to alert the public about the date and locations. The Director stated that he wanted a different name for this event. He was not crazy about the name “Bucket Day”.

Yet another recess and reconvening was called at this point. Again the same group of people seemed to be coming back. This time it was called the “Board of Commissioners” meeting.

Length of Meeting - The meeting was over 2 hours and counting when the observer had to leave due to another appointment.

Observer - Jan Goldberg

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Money Decisions and Deferrals Produce Good Board Discussion

4/8/2016

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting - March 17, 2016

Significant Topics Discussed:
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) will provide an $180,000 grant to a new non-profit being “birthed” in Chicago called “Current”. World Business Chicago is launching this water technology research center that will focus on local water issues. The MWRD staff and Debra Shore among other commissioners believes this technology center has the potential to be a great resource and will monitor Current’s value over the next two years.

Board Members asked the staff to provide new real estate appraisal guidelines and to get an updated appraisal for a vacant property that is currently being rented at an annual rate of 10% of its 2012 appraised value. The importance of this request reflects the board’s interest in its fiduciary responsibilities to MWRD and the citizens that underwrite the work of its operations.

A citizen during the public comment period called for an Independent Inspector General for the MWRD. The League of Women Voters of Cook County strongly supports the creation of this office.

Significant Topic Removed from Agenda:
Deleted from the agenda was a request by Executive Director, David St. Pierre to start the statutory procedures to sell the MWRD’s lobby and plaza areas of its 101-11 East Erie Street building. The board was very reluctant to give approval without investigating long-term rental or other options. A hotel is being built adjacent to the MWRD building and its owners want to buy the current lobby in order to facilitate getting a liquor license to serve alcohol on the lower level of its hotel.

Observer - Diane Edmundson

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MWRD Executive Director supports funding for water quality research

12/14/2015

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Maintenance Committee In-Service, Thursday November 19, 2015

Steve McCracken, Watershed Director of the DuPage River Salt Creek Workgroup, gave a presentation on water quality improvement. 37 utilities in Cook and DuPage counties make up the Workgroup. Much of the Salt Creek watershed and the DuPage River watershed is in DuPage county.

The group is concerned that while the EPA is requiring that towns limit chloride in the water, the actual water quality is not improving. The group is working to get better water quality, while using tax dollars more efficiently. This has involved getting rid of several dams on the DuPage River. They are using an Index of Bio-integrity to measure water quality.

MWRD Executive Director David St. Pierre said that the MWRD would be contributing to this work at the level of $2 million. Because much of the land area is not actually in Cook County, the District's contribution must be limited. He deems it an important project and recommends that the MWRD support it.

Submitted by Georgia Gebhardt

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Remote Closed Session Attendance Rules Discussed at MWRD Board Meeting

MWRD Strategic Plan (2021-2025) Adopted Unanimously

Water Reclamation Board Continues to Focus on Increasing Efficiency, Fairness, and Best Practices

MWRD and Friends of the Chicago River Partner to Create "Overflow Action Days"

Money Decisions and Deferrals Produce Good Board Discussion

MWRD Executive Director supports funding for water quality research

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