[remote or in person] Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board of Commissioners

President Steele calls the roll at 10:35am and seven board members are present. Quorum is established and there’s a brief recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Live broadcast of the meeting can be viewed here:
https://mwrd.granicus.com/player/event/41bf5151-ef87-48ee-81bf-7f9a1fc7a25b?redirect=true

A motion to approve the previous board’s minutes is moved by Cmsr. Flynn and seconded by Cmsr. Sepulveda.

President Steele opens up public comment and the only speaker is a man whose recent contract bid was rejected for insufficient M/WBE representation.

The speaker requests that the Board look into the competitor that was awarded the contract as, according to him, they have the same issue.

Next, President Steele introduces a representative from ComEd who announces that MWRD is receiving a $400K check for hitting energy efficient targets.

More coverage of ComEd’s energy savings, including comments from spokespeople, which improved compared to 2024:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/comed-energy-efficiency-program-exceeds-150000493.html

President Steele seeks comment from other members and there’s a request to read Resolution #2 into the record and recognize MWRD’s participation in @atalliance.bsky.social‘s Bike Commuter challenge.

The item is read and the board breaks for pictures at 10:55am.

https://activetransreg.org/page/about

Taking a moment now to observe thatthere are a total of 60 items on the agenda today, across several committees.

It isn’t possible to attach screenshots of the full agenda in a single post, but it can be accessed here:
https://mwrd.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1236669&GUID=BC24C75B-92E8-45E4-BC4C-C7B12D2C7169

The Board resumes and the Executive Director of MWRD’s Retirement Fund James Möhler moves into a presentation of the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.

During discussion Möhler implies that future plans will depend less on equities.

The full report is here:
mwhttps://mwrdrf.org/media/3223/mwrdrf-2024-acfr-compressed.pdf

The committee of the whole reconvenes and the consent agenda is considered. After surveying Items #1, 3, 18, 23, 34, 35, 43, and 46 are pulled for discussion.

Item #1 gets a brief acknowledgment and #3 is reviewed and presents an opportunity for Cmsr. Davis to highlight the work done by Cmsr. Waller around water use and re-use. President Steele reiterates this, saying, “Water reuse is not just about sustainability, but equity.”

In personal comments, Cmsr. Waller notes that Illinois is the only state in the United States that doesn’t have water re-use standards and norms codified or incentivized in law.

“It is my goal to make change for climate change,” she adds, concluding her remarks.

Items #18 and 23 receive brief discussion, as does #34, though one member is concerned, implying that the contracting party doesn’t have appropriate licensure. Given that the work they would do involves testing for PFAS they are concerned about legal exposure.

https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained

Item #35 involves a research partnership with UIUC to study biosolids, particularly those derived from hemp. Several board members note the intense interest in this area of research. It is moved to the consent agenda.

Items #43 and #46 are both deferred with the former being done so without comment or explanation. Following this President Steele calls the roll again.

The committee of the whole then moves into a brief recess and reconvenes as the full Board.

Upon return Item #6 to approve travel expenses of the Boardis read in full. The items on the consent agenda are then re-read.

The consent agenda’s items are read and it’s clarified that Items #6, 23 and 46 were deferred. In a roll call vote all present members assent to approve all other items.

President Steele then moves into New Business and mentions that MWRD will have a float at next month’s Budget Billiken parade.

Cmsr. Davis introduces several new staff and Cmsr. Waller mentions that she will be taking a road trip to Alaska in an electric vehicle (EV), a trip she estimates will take nine days.

Waller says that if she makes it it will be proof that EVs “have arrived.”

Cmsr. Corral-Sepulveda mentions that there’s a water wellness event in Park Ridge.

Following a few other remarks
Cmsr. Brown moves to adjourn the meeting and is seconded by Cmsr. Flynn.

The motion carries–six YAYs, no NAYs–and the meeting adjourns.

The next board meeting of the MWRD will take place Thursday, August 14th, at 10:30am.

Thanks for tuning in today. Feel free to engage with me and to stay up-to-date with all things @dohttps://www.documenters.org/, check out our website. Take care! 👋🏾

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