Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
May 20, 2021
Present: President Steele,  Commissioners Davis,  Du Buclet, Garcia, Morita, Corral Sepulveda, Shore, and Spyropoulos. Commissioner McGowan absent 

Board Action:
Agenda Item #25-#21-0457 - contract for approval - removed from Consent Agenda for discussion

• Commissioner Shore raised concerns about the $15 million boiler contract in which the low bidder was dismissed because of a missing signature on a subcontract. She asked how this can be avoided and what measures could be taken? Director Perkovich stated the ordinance mandates that any contract missing signature(s) is automatically rejected.
• Commissioner Shore reported her staff had researched this issue and had found that since 2016, there were sixteen bids rejected because of lack of signature, resulting in a cost of more than $2 million to taxpayers. Other agencies conduct a compliance review to avoid this. MWRD has no such review. Director Perkovich said the staff could definitely research this. President Steele directed that this be done ASAP.
• Commissioner Shore called this a systemic failure and that the Board had repeatedly asked for improvement in procurement procedures. Commissioner Davis pointed out that there are electronic tools that automatically  kick contracts out that are incomplete, thus alerting the agency to that fact before they are filed.
• Commissioner Shore’s second question was whether it is possible for these large contracts to be broken up into smaller parts. This would allow smaller contractors to bid on them, thus helping to meet MWRD’s goal of rewarding contracts to a more diverse group. Director Perkovich affirmed that this could be done.
• All other commissioners made statements in concurrence with Commissioner Shore’s concerns. Agenda item #25 was voted down on a roll call vote with all 8 commissioners present voting against the item.

After a lengthy executive session, the Board  reconvened and approved all the remaining agenda items.

New business:

• June board meeting will most likely be held in person.
• Commissioner Davis reported the Chatham Pilot Study had been halted, but not because of MWRD.
• Commissioner Shore said feedback on the state water plant would be invited next week.

   
Observer: Georgia Gebhardt                             Meeting time: 189 minutes including Executive Session

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
May 6, 2021 

Board Action:
Four items were pulled for further discussion though all were approved.

• Resolution #21-0390 regarding the hiring of grazing goats was pulled by Commissioner Shore.  The contract was scheduled to be awarded in January, and Commissioner Shore is concerned about its effects on ground nesting groups.  She requested a list of the locations that the grazing group will be deployed, the timeline for deployment, and asked that staff work with birders to take into account ground nesting birds.
• Resolution #21-0415 was pulled by Commissioner Spyropoulos to request more information as this major project has been on the books since 2019 and the District has rejected several bids for Odor Control Systems at two-Tarp Shafts and the decommissioning of the Thornton Transition Reservoir.  Cost $14.5 to $17.6 million.  Commissioner Davis asked the staff to examine the possibility of breaking down the contract into smaller sections.  
• Resolution #21-0399.  Report on green infrastructure, detention, and compensatory storage volumes required by the Watershed Management Ordinance (WMO).  Commissioner Shore suggested the District have a development plan to proactively reach out to developers to help them meet the WMO requirements.

Stormwater Management

• Resolution #21-0385 is to honor retiring Mayor, Arlene A. Juracek of Mount Prospect, and to thank her for being a great partner on flood control issues.

New Business

• Commissioner Shore requested a memo detailing the vaccination rate within the District, the approximate timeline for full vaccination, and a detailed plan for staff to return to work.

Public Comment

• There was one public comment by phone stating that he hoped that Commissioner Garcia would consider resigning from one of his two public positions.

Length of Meeting: Public meeting lasted 45 min - a very short business meeting with a very long Executive Session in the middle of the meeting

Observer - .Diane Edmundson                                          

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
April 15, 2020 

Public Comments
All the public comments concerned these two agenda items:

• Agenda Item 43#21-0357  Termination of annex agreement with Elk Gove Village
• Agenda Item 44#21-0358  Policy adoption on limits on municipalities’ actions following an annexation of MWRD land.   If the municipality then annexed land adjacent to the MWRD land, it could not condemn those properties for three years. 

Seven residents  that lived near the MWRD land  that was subject to the annexation   by Elk Grove Village spoke against the proposed policy of the MWRD to prohibit condemnation of annexed property for only three years. They were concerned that once the MWRD land was annexed, Elk Grove Village would then try to annex their area.  The lawyer for Elk Gove said the  village was able to acquire the needed land and no longer wanted to annex the MWRD land.  The policy consideration was withdrawn at the beginning of the meeting by Executive Director Perkovich.  During the meeting, the Board approved the termination of the annex agreement.

Agenda Items
Commissioners pulled 10 agenda items for discussion.  Once discussed, all items were returned to the agenda and approved.

• Agenda Item 10 #21-0356  Treasurer Boyle spoke to this item that would allow the MWRD to participate in the federal-state Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program. It  would provide up to $100,000,000 in low-cost financing for local projects.  They are reviewing which projects would be eligible for this grant.
• Agenda Item 36 #21-0331 Authority to increase the contract for reuse of biosolids.  This is an ongoing multiyear contract with Stewart Spreading, Inc.   Commissioner Spryopoulos asked that a more detailed report be given at a future meeting for the specific amounts last year, this year, and future projections. 

Administrative

• Executive Director Perkovich deleted Agenda Item 44 #21-0358 Authority to adopt a policy relating to requests submitted by municipalities on annexation of unincorporated District land. The policy would limit a municipality’s ability to pursue involuntary annexations of private property contiguous to District land.

Stormwater Management

• Agenda Item 45 #21-0254 Authority to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Village of East Dundee to allow East Dundee to enforce the Kane County Stormwater Management Ordinance.   This item was deferred from the April 1 meeting.  There was no discussion.
• Agenda item 46 #21-21-0342  Authority to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the village of LaGrange Park for construction of a permeable pavement reconstruction not to exceed $272,000.
• Agenda Item 48 #21-0344 Approval of an intergovernmental agreement with Park Ridge to help with flooding problems.  A stormwater capture facility will be built.  MWRD’s payment not to exceed $950,000.

New Business

• President Steele announced that the public relations department created an animated video of the book, Where Does It Go.   It will be available on the web site.
• Commissioner Morita announced that MWRD materials are being translated into Chinese.

​Observer - Kathleen Graffam                                             Length of meeting  1 hour 45 minutes

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

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
​March 18,  2021 

Agenda items:

• Five items were pulled for further discussion though all were finally approved.
• Item #21-0228 was an increase in a contract for security services at Prairie Plan Site. Staff will look into whether security firm could install nature web cams at this site. These live streams are popular with the public for nature viewing.
• Item #21-0229 was a one day permit for the Friends of the Chicago River for clean-up on May 8 at nineteen locations. The debris boat will assist the Friends in the clean-up.

Stormwater Management:

• Item #21-0239 was an Intergovernmental Agreement with Blue Island to build a bioswale and permeable alley on 119th street. This could capture 64,000 gallons of stormwater. Cost will be $250,000.

This was a short meeting with no public comment, no new business, and no commissioner requests. 

Observer - Peggy Kell                                                    Length of meeting - 42 minutes

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting
March 4, 2021
                           All Commissioners present

Board Action:
All agenda items were approved, except for Agenda Item #19 (21-0181), authority to advertise a contract for testing and repairing underground storage tanks, which was deleted by the Executive Director.  

​Only a few items were pulled out for discussion, and most of the discussion related to remembering former MWRD Commissioner and President Terrence J. O’Brien who recently died and celebrating 14-year old Dorothy Jean Tillman from the Chicago south side who received her Masters degree in environmental science in 2020.  Ms. Tillman has created the Dorothy Jeanius STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) Educational Leadership Institute to create an environment where adolescents can pair arts with technology.  During the pandemic she has created at home STEAM kits for adolescents, and has also reached out to South African youth.

​Following are a few items noted from the agenda and meeting:

• Executive Director Brian Perkovich announced that the district is making plans to “go back to ‘normal’” with the roll-out of the vaccine.   However, he expects that there will be changes in how the district does things based on what they have learned over the past year.  Management is now reviewing a draft of a new remote working policy.
• Finance:  Agenda Item 9 was a report to the Board on comparison of investment income in 2020 vs. 2019:  down by $10 M, from almost $18 M in 2019 to not quite $8 M in 2020.  Item 10 showed a continuation of that trend for January 2021 vs. 2020:  down 60% from $1 M in Jan. 2020 vs. $0.47 M in 2021.  Given the Federal Reserve Board’s announced plans to maintain low interest rates, the forecast is for the district to continue to have low returns.  However, Agenda Item 11 reported that the district’s investments are out-performing the benchmark 90-day Treasury bill:  0.43% vs. 0.10% in the 4th quarter of 2020.
• Web site:  Agenda Item 23 was a request to advertise a contract for enhancements to the new web site, particularly with regard to video content.  Commissioner Garcia asked what languages would be included (vs. translation capability), which the Executive Director was still being looked at.
• Commissioner McGowan and others expressed their gratitude to the employees for all that they have done during the past year of the pandemic.  Commissioner Shore suggested that consideration be given to allowing employees to take time off to get vaccinated since a number of vaccination sites are not open on the weekend.

Observer -  Priscilla Mims                     Length of meeting:  1 hour and 20 minutes