MWRD Board Approves 13 Stormwater Management Projects across the County

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
May 16, 2024

Board Action:

• The Board, with no discussion on the merits, approved all items on the Consent agenda, except for #13 which was withdrawn by the Executive Director (authority to advertise a contract to remove and replace pavement at various locations, Item 24-0396).  The items approved included authorizing the staff to negotiate and enter into intergovernmental agreements for 13 projects dealing with stormwater management in different areas across the County:  Broadview, Brookfield, Forest Park, Franklin Park, Glenview, Hoffman Estates, Markham, North Riverside, Northlake, Willow Springs, Hillside, Chicago, and the Cook County Forest Preserve District.  (Agenda items 47 through 59)
• The intergovernmental agreement with the Forest Preserve District is for land acquisition, concept planning, and preliminary engineering for a flood control project near the confluence of Deer Creek and Third Creek that is expected to provide increased flood protection for Ford Heights, Glenwood, Thornton, South Hollland, Calumet City, and Lansing.  Friends of the Chicago River expressed its support for this item during Public Comments. (Item 24-0415)
• While not directly related to the merits of the rejection of bids for another proposed flood control project on Midlothian Creek in Robbins, Commissioner Davis did raise questions which he said would further his understanding of the effectiveness of the MWRD’s procurement process.  Commissioner Davis asked what factors lead to a determination that a bid is incomplete.  The response was failing to properly address diversity requirements, failing to provide signatures, and failure to provide the required bond.  (Agenda Item 5.)
• The Board then went into Executive Session and took a lunch break before returning to open session to complete the meeting with New Business.  Because of the expected length of the break (well over an hour), this Observer left and watched the remaining few minutes via video.

Time of meeting (without break and executive session):  1 hour and 15 minutes

Observer:  Priscilla Mims