MWRD Board Signals Intent to Press Affirmative Action Goals in Intergovernmental Partnerships

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting 
April 1, 2021 

Board Action
Agenda Items: Commissioners pulled 10 agenda items for discussion.  Once discussed, all but item #34 were returned to the agenda and approved.  

Administrative:
Executive Director (ED) Brian Perkovich deleted item 32 (21-0300). 

• This item was the subject of 3 public comments at the start of the meeting.  Homeowners in the Ropolo subdivision asked Commissioners to vote in favor of Item 32 and end an annexation agreement between Elk Grove Village and the MWRD that would have allowed the Village to use MWRD land to “take our homes.” The annexation involved about 41 acres of MWRD land near the Majewski Reservoir. 
• Language in item 32 required the District in future annexation agreements to limit a municipality’s ability to pursue involuntary annexations of private property contiguous to District land.
• ​ED Perkovich deleted the item prior to public comments, apparently because a letter from an attorney representing the homeowners noted item 32 was not sufficient to meet a court order that required both the termination of the annexation agreement and a disconnection of the private properties from the Village.  

Affirmative Action Goals

• Most of the discussion in this meeting revolved around item 33 (21-0253) with Commissioners asking how MWRD affirmative action goals are enforced in project partnerships.  The MWRD often enters into intergovernmental partnerships to complete infrastructure projects.  
• Item 33 authorized $3 million payment to the Village of Mount Prospect to design, construct, and operate the Aspen Trails’ storm sewer and reservoir project. The Village was unwilling to apply affirmative action goals to the entire project, reportedly because specialized equipment was involved that was difficult to source from minority or women-owned firms.
• Commissioner Corral Sepulveda asked staff if the MWRD requires documentation of good faith efforts to apply the goals in these cases. Director of Engineering, Dr. O’Connor, said no.
• Commissioner Corral Sepulveda noted the Board was about to receive the 2021 disparity study, and asked staff and fellow Commissioners for suggestions on how the District can strengthen affirmative action goals in its intergovernmental agreements.
• ​Commissioner Garcia agreed hiring goals in partnership agreements should be stronger. 
• Commissioner McGowan said “We have a lot of these partnerships.  I’d like to know who the PCE’s (minority contractors) are who are hired, along with the dollar amount they received.   We need to keep up with all of this.  It’s quite a lot of money.”
• ​Commissioners requested a memo from staff showing all partners of intergovernmental agreements, with dollar amounts provided by each partner; identifying the contractors and minority contractors hired and how much each were paid. Commissioners want data to give them a sense of what dollars the MWRD, and its partners, are allocating to minority contractors.  Executive Director Perkovich agreed to provide the memo. 

Stormwater Management

• Item 34 (21-0254) was deferred by commissioner Shore to allow staff time to determine if the MWRD’s stormwater watershed management ordinance was more or less stringent than the one in Kane County.   Item 34 would have allowed the Village of East Dundee to enforce the Kane County ordinance in portions of Cook County.

Executive Session:

• The Board meeting opened at 10:30 am.  At 11:45 the meeting was closed for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining agreements.  The meeting was reconvened at 12:45 pm. 

Observer - Laurie Morse                     Length of Meeting: 3 hours including a one hour executive session