MWRD Board continues to hear resident testimony on Harvey Stormwater Basin

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