MWRD Board Approves Amendment to Ethics Ordinance

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
January 23, 2020

Board Decisions:

• The Amendment to the Ethics Ordinance of the MWRD of Chicago was passed unanimously without discussion. Commissioners Shore and Steele expressed how gratified they were to see this come to fruition.
• There were a considerable number of items that requested an increase of existing purchase orders. The authority to increase the purchase order with the law firm of Neal & Leroy came under scrutiny from several commissioners. Commissioner Davis stated that these orders came up for change too often because they did not adhere to the fee policy of 2018. He suggested three choices: live within the policy, eliminate it or amend it. Commissioner Garcia observed that the board was not sufficiently well prepared and in possession of all the necessary facts before being asked to render decisions. There is a need for more timely response from staff when commissioners have questions.  VOTE: 7 ayes     1 nay (Davis)

Board Discussion:

• Commissioner Shore raised concerns with (pipeline) perpetual easements and their risk to the MWRD. Given that they are perpetual, can they be renegotiated to respond to a change in risk. The MWRD attorney said renegotiation was unlikely, but these easements still must meet insurance requirements and compliance expectations. All pipelines have IEPA and EPA requirements they must meet. Commissioners Shore and Morita expressed a need to review perpetual pipeline agreements and to address at a policy level.
• State of Illinois 2020 Legislative Program. The deadline to submit this program was January 24, 2020 (the following day). While the commissioners were in support of the program, several expressed some frustration that there was no time to address their questions given the deadline. They were reassured by the legislative head that there were already shell bills in place, allowing for flexibility.  Legislative initiative #2 was deemed particularly important because it would allow registered voters outside the District’s corporate boundaries to vote for the MWRD commissioners. Item deferred at Comm. Garcia's request. (Agenda Item #36,0053)

Observer - Georgia Gebhardt

Report corrected 1/27/2020  to note item #36,0053 was deferred