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MWRD Amends Watershed Management Ordinance and Includes A Regional Credit Trading Pilot Program

5/25/2020

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting
May 7, 2020

Nine Board members participated in this virtual meeting, and three public speakers participated by audio hookup. Two of the speakers supported the new Watershed Management Ordinance (WMO) and the third speaker represented Northwestern University in Evanston concerning Agenda Item #52 (see below).

Board Action and Discussion:

Agenda Item #1, 20-0004. Approved. The Board unanimously approved the amended Watershed Management Ordinance [WMO] and thanked organizations such as the Nature Conservancy and the Metropolitan Planning Council for their participation on the Stormwater Planning Council and the Council’s contributions to the WMO. A regional stormwater control credit trading pilot will be introduced for the Little Calumet and Des Plains Watersheds. The goal is to use this market based tool to ensure the watersheds are safer and more resilient to heavy storms.
Agenda Item #12, 20-0344. Approved. Authority to decrease the cost estimate for a repair and rehabilitation contract for the Majewski Reservoir in Des Plaines. Asked why more money is needed as $6 million was authorized in 2014, staff responded that the work that was done in 2014 covered a little more than half of the Reservoir. This contract is for the rest of the Reservoir. Staff noted that the Majewski takes on water about six times a year and is inspected regularly.
Agenda Item #14, 20-0229. Approved. Authority to advertise a pavement contract prompted a Commissioner’s query about using green infrastructure for this type of contract. Staff answered that for new pavement contracts, green infrastructure is used. For repairs, it is used when possible and practical.
Agenda Item #38, 20-0369. Approved. Authority to issue a purchase order for Telephone and Software updates prompted a discussion on use of thumb drives – Is it best practice from a safety perspective. Staff believes that it is safe and will provide more information via a memo rather than in this public meeting.
Agenda Item #48, 20-0330. Approved. Authority to decrease a purchase order with the Chicago Public Schools led to a discussion on the District’s Space to Grow Program. With COVID-19 and school closings, a question was raised about expenditures at this time. Staff answered that school closing makes it easier and quicker to complete the 4 projects planned for this year, which brings the total to 34 schools.
Agenda Item #58, 20-0332. Approved. Staff asked for authority to negotiate intergovernmental agreements with the City of Chicago’s Park District. Commission DuBuclet said the goal is to improve stormwater amenities in the Park District and staff added that the agreement can provide leverage for flood reduction and possible neighborhood revitalization.

Requests

Commissioner Shore asked Staff to study the Governor’s COVID-19 transition plan and provide guidance to the Commissioners.
Commission Spyropoulos asked staff to look into providing either a bonus, hazard pay, or perhaps a day off for workers going into the plants. McGowan asked that this consideration be extended to workers going to the downtown office.
Commission Avila stated he has concerns about 2020 finances due to COVID-19 and cautioned the board to be conservative in developing the 2021 budget.
Commissioner Davis strongly urged the board not to consider using TIF funds to augment COVID-19 budget deficits – but to continue to reserve TIF monies to reduce Pension debt obligations. He asked colleagues to join him in identifying expense reductions.
Commissioner Davis said he is working on a Space to Grow amendment and invited the commissioners to provide input on an expansion of the program. He will offer his amendment at the May 21 meeting.
Commissioner McGowan requested a Study Session in early June to discuss the Affirmative Action Amendment and the 4 points raised by Garcia in his deferment of Agenda Item #2. (see below)

Deferred Items

Agenda Item #2, 20-0003. Authority to amend the Affirmative Action Ordinance expiration date to December 31. 2021. Commission Garcia troubled by an extension to December 2021. Wants to act sooner.
Agenda Item #11, 20-0342. Authority to extend vending machine contract. Commissioner Garcia wants to discuss the food service operations in the District.
Agenda Items #13,15,21,24,31,43. Each of these items are contracts where Commissioners Garcia and McGovern asked for more details on participation goals and if other agency lists of available contractors were reviewed.
Agenda Item #32, 20-0288. Commissioner Garcia deferred a settlement agreement with Marcelo H. Garcia, Ph.D. in connection with a litigation case. No discussion held.
Agenda Item #33, 20-0302. Second deferral requested by Garcia. Board received information one day before meeting. Subject: Agreement for a Compensation and Benefits Study.
Agenda Item #47. 20-0261. Garcia troubled that a contract increase with AT&T is being requested just six months after signing the original purchase order.
Agenda Item #52, 20-0264. Authority to issue a 5-year permit to Northwestern University to allow parking and tailgating activities during home games on several parcels along the North Shore Channel, for a fee of $80,000. Davis deferred and asked for estimated costs to MWRD to provide long-term maintenance.

Observed by: Dianne Schmidt Meeting Length: 3 hours

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MWRD Board Hosts First Remote Audio Meeting

4/30/2020

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
April 16, 2020

Eight of the nine Board members participated in an audio only board meeting that included input from public speakers via phone hookup.

Decisions

Agenda Item #5, 20-0177 - Authorizing membership dues payment for the 2020 Federal Water Quality Coalition in the amount of $12,500 was voted down. This item was deferred at the March Board meeting by Commissioner Davis. He stated that he remains troubled by the number of dues payments to various organizations - some of which have no obvious benefit to the District. Commissioners Garcia and McGowan voted NO with him and Commissioner Spyropoulos voted Present. J. Morita was absent. With only four YES votes, the expenditure was rejected.
Agenda Item #8, 20-0205 - Deferred on March 5 by Garcia for authority to amend an engineering project related to the future of Lincoln Yards Project was approved without discussion
Agenda Item #30, 20-0314 - Commissioner Shore questioned a requested increase in an agreement with a professional engineering services firm to, among other things, do more stakeholder outreach for a flood control project on Midlothian Creek in Robbins, IL. She stated that the previously approved contract included provisions for outreach. Staff said that this is for attending community meetings on the next phase of the work, and the final design is due by December 2020. The expenditure increase was ultimately approved.
Agenda Item #40, 20-0217 - The reappointment of Jose A. Lopez as Commissioner on the MWRD"s Ethics Commission for a two-year term was approved after being deferred at the March 5, 2020 Board Meeting. There was no discussion.
Agenda Item #45, 20-0285 -The purchase of the last mobile home would then clear the way for the construction of the Addison Creek Channel Improvement Project which is a Stormwater Management project. Friends of the Chicago River asked that staff consider the use of green infrastructure on this project, and Davis supported the Friends comments.

New Business

Commissioner Davis asked the Exec. Director and staff to provide a summary of the status of getting federal assistance for water infrastructure projects in the next stimulus package. He offered his assistance to obtain a grant, and Commissioner McGowan also asked that the District's lobbyist in DC be included in discussions.
Commissioner Shore requested that staff look into whether the residue from toxic dust from the demolition of the Crawford Coal plant’s smokestack in Little Village has or will impact MWRD’s treatment plans. Ex. Director, Perkovich, responded that it is part of the regular monitoring program.
Commissioner Shore requested a detailed report be given to the Board on operations over the last month and what the potential impact of dealing with Covid-19 accommodations will be on the District's budget due to changes in operations, water flow, etc.

Deleted or Deferred Items

Agenda Item #42, 20-0279 - Authority to enter into a 25-year lease with the City of Evanston on 16+ acres of District real estate located east of the North Shore Channel between Dempster Street and Main Streets for a nominal fee of $10.00 was deleted by the Executive Director.
Agenda Item #17, 20-9392 - Authority to issue a purchase order and enter into a Contract for a Compensation and Benefits Study with MGT of America Consulting, LLC for $80,224 was deferred by Commissioner Garcia.
Agenda Item 20-0184-Deleted from the March 5 Agenda for a $3,883,400 request to advertise for Scavenger Services was not on the April 16 agenda. However, smaller scavenger contracts were approved.

Commissioner Requests

For Item #30, McGowan requested the dates of the held meetings and a report on the PCE participation goals as a result of the increase in the contract [$416,614].
Garcia requested that in the future, Board letters or attachments have details on the participation goals as well as any changes to the goals.

Observed by: Diane Edmundson Meeting Length: 1 hr.

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MWRD Board Requests More Background Information on Several Agenda Items

3/18/2020

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
March 5, 2020

Approved Items with Discussion:

#9, 20-0181: Discussion took place about the transfer of the $20,000,000.00 of Accumulated Investment Interest Income to the MWRD Retirement Fund. Questions were asked about the use of minority owned investment firms and in what way these funds will be allocated for investments. The outside investment manager is Marquette Investment; Commissioners asked what they charge for their services.
#23, 20-0207: Authority to lease 14.02 acres of improved District real estate at 6400 South Archer Avenue in Bedford Park, Illinois; Main Channel parcel 33.01. Currently, there is a tenant on the property. The Board requested more information.
#33, 20-0209 Discussion about the authority to amend the easement agreement dated March 24, 1949 between the District and Cornerstone Properties (successor in interest to ComEd) to use and maintain District owned portions in Stickney and Forest View. Commissioners questioned Com Ed’s obligation to alert the District about any problems occurring and would like this to be included in the new agreement.

Deferred or Deleted Items:

#13, 20-0177 Deferred by Commissioner Davis - more information was requested regarding why this money is sent to a law firm instead of directly to the Coalition and who the Coalition members are.
#14, 20-0205 Deferred by Commissioner Garcia - Much discussion took place about the relationship of this engineering project to the future Lincoln Yards Project. The Commissioners were assured that the project would have taken place because of TARP’s inadequate connections and are looking for others that need correction. The Commissioners requested more information.
#15, 20-0184 Ex. Director deleted a request to advertise for Scavenger Services estimated cost of $3,883,400.
#31, 20-0217 Deferred by Commissioner Garcia - More information was requested before the reappointment of Jose Lopez as Commissioner on MWRD’s Ethics

Commissioner Requests

Mr. Garcia requested a list of minority investment participation
Ms. Shore requested new leases include additional notices to the District
Mr. Davis requested the Diversity Department provide the Board message ready notices for district events.

All Commissioners were present

Observed by: Pat Lind Meeting Length: 1 hr. 45 min.

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Boundary Issues for Voting and Services Discussed at MWRD Board Meeting

2/28/2020

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
February 20, 2020

Board Action:

Agenda Item 38. 20-0053 A. At the February 6 Board Meeting, the board asked to split this agenda item, the MWRD Legislative Initiative for Springfield, into 2 sections and deferred the resolution. In this meeting, the board approved Initiative #1 that would amend the District’s enabling ordinance to allow the Board to transfer excess revenue from any source legally available to the pension fund. Initiative #2 - to request amending the enabling ordinance to allow all Cook County voters to vote for MWRD commissioners regardless of whether they reside within the MWRD area - was deleted.
Agenda Item 29. 20-0169. The authority to issue a three month permit to Commonwealth Edison Co. to use 10,000 sq. ft. portions of land parcels in Bedford Park as helicopter landing zones for delivery and access to its transmission line. Further consideration of tree removal along with reclamation and remediation for the parcels will be built into the permit. This was approved with consideration that there be a $5,000.00 annual fee
Deleted Agenda Item: - Item 10. 20-0149 Authority to Furnish and deliver Sodium Bisulfite. No venders met the criteria for compliance. Commissioner McGowan asked if minority firms were contacted.
Deferred Agenda Item: Item 24. 20-0097 was deferred for a second time. The authority to award contracts to furnish, deliver and install an upgraded operator for TARP Gate 1 at the O’Brien Water Reclamation Plant.
Nine Resolutions were presented honoring February’s Black History Month and several individuals.

Public Comments:

Sally Stone and Rob Sulski spoke on behalf of land parcels 34A and 34C in Glenview and Northbrook regarding the lack of care and management of parcel 34B. Invasive plant specie’s seeds are flowing downstream and creating contamination problems in the other two parcels. Those two communities have volunteers that maintain those parcels. They suggested mowing earlier and often. The Board agreed to follow up with answers by the end of the week and agreed to consider community help.

Commissioner Request:

Commissioner Cameron Davis requested that in the future, proposed Ordinance resolutions be published at least 30 days in advance of board review or vote for public notice and comment.

All commissioners except Garcia were present. He arrived for the 1:00 p.m. Study Session covering the Affirmative Action Disparity Study Report.

Observed by: Pat Lind Length of Meeting - 2 hrs.

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MWRD Board Discusses Proposed State of Illinois Legislation Program for 2020

2/9/2020

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Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
February 6, 2020

Primary Topic Discussed:
State of Illinois 2020 Legislation Program (Agenda Item 20-0053)

Legislative Initiative #1 of State of Illinois 2020 Legislation Program was unanimously approved. This will amend the District’s act to allow the Board of Commissioners to transfer excess revenue from any source legally available to the pension fund. Currently, there is only statutory authority to transfer property tax and interest income. An example would be if TIF surplus funds were redistributed. These could be transferred to the pension fund. The initiative would provide the Board with flexibility in utilizing excess revenue. A two thirds vote would be required for such action.

Legislative Initiative #2 - was separated from the original agenda item. This initiative would amend the District Act to extend the right to vote for the Board of Commissioners to all registered voters in Cook County. Currently, only voters within the corporate boundaries of the District have this right. The District has legislative authority for stormwater management throughout Cook County. Rationale: to bring the District political boundaries into line.

Commissioner Shore stated that this is a fairness issue for voters outside corporate boundaries. In the past grants have been rejected because residents were not within the district boundaries. There is no relationship between voting and paying taxes. All have a right to services.
Commissioners all expressed general support for the initiative but had questions to be answered before they could feel confident in voting. Commissioner McGowan asked for a specific list of the municipalities affected. There will be a study session on February 20 at which questions regarding the initiative can be addressed. The deadline for all bills to be out of committee is March 27, 2020.
The motion to divide the two legislative initiatives was approved unanimously.

Commissioner Garcia (in absentia) requested a weekly legislative report while the General Assembly is in session.

Other Board Activity:
The MWRD Executive Director gave the quarterly report for the Retirement Fund. (Agenda Item 20-0126)

He was gratified to report that 30% of the firms working with the fund are owned by women and/or minorities.
There is a net operating deficit because contributions do not cover payouts. Longer-lived pensioners, while a positive, bring funding challenges.
Returns on investments must fill this gap.

An Ordinance directing the County Clerk to reduce levy of taxes on Capital Improvement Bonds for levy year 2019 was approved with 8 ayes; 0 nays

New business:

Commissioner Davis reported feedback from his constituents regarding ethics ordinances. They requested thirty days for public comments on all ordinances.

Observer - Georgia Gebhardt Meeting Length: 2 hours

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MWRD Board Approves Amendment to Ethics Ordinance

1/25/2020

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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

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MWRD Amends Watershed Management Ordinance and Includes A Regional Credit Trading Pilot Program

MWRD Board Hosts First Remote Audio Meeting

MWRD Board Requests More Background Information on Several Agenda Items

Boundary Issues for Voting and Services Discussed at MWRD Board Meeting

MWRD Board Discusses Proposed State of Illinois Legislation Program for 2020

MWRD Board Approves Amendment to Ethics Ordinance

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