Board of Commissioners

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

Utilities

Thursday, May 5, 2022
10:30 a.m. CDT

100 East Erie Street Chicago, IL 60611 (Directions)

You have the option to document this meeting in person or remotely, via live stream.

If you attend the meeting in person, an additional hour will be added to your pay for this assignment. Take a photo to let us know you were there. You will be required to go through a metal detector and show government-issued photo ID. More details on attending public meetings of the MWRDGC Board of Commissioners can be found here, starting on pp. 13.

If you choose to document this meeting remotely, visit/refresh https://mwrd.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx at the scheduled meeting time. A link labeled “In Progress” will appear under the Video column for the corresponding meeting (though it may not be until at or a little after the scheduled start time).

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Note-taking by Collin Hazlett

Sodium hypochlorite contract, Affirmative action

View notes

Live reporting by Will Reynolds

Sodium hypochlorite contract, Affirmative action

Will Reynolds @willinois

Good morning. I'll be live-tweeting the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Board of Commissioners meeting, scheduled to start at 10:30am, for @CHIdocumenters #CHIDocumenters

10:27 AM May 5, 2022 CDT

Will Reynolds @willinois 2/17

@CHIdocumenters I'll be watching remotely. The meeting agenda and video can be found here: mwrd.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

Will Reynolds @willinois 3/17

The meeting starts on time. Vice-President Barbara McGowan says people she cares about have received unpleasant or threatening messages regarding the first agenda item, amending the affirmative action ordinance. She moves to delete it from the agenda, which is approved.

Will Reynolds @willinois 4/17

The first public speaker is a MWRD employee objecting to two water fountains in the lobby. One is for vaccinated people and the other is for non-vaccinated. He refers to them as "segregated" water fountains and objects to employees being forced to vaccinate.

Will Reynolds @willinois 5/17

The public speaker goes on to complain about the "wokeness agenda" and "COVID theater."

No one responds and the board begins meeting as the committee of the whole.

Will Reynolds @willinois 6/17

An amendment is proposed to agenda item 13 by commissioner Du Buclet to change the cost of a proposed contract. President Steele begins to call for a vote without discussion, but two commissioners say they don't understand what they're voting on.

Will Reynolds @willinois 7/17

The vote on the amendment is stopped and Ex Dir Perkovich explains it's a correction about the cost of a contract for delivering Sodium Hypochlorite. The board defers the agenda item to the afternoon after some discussion about parliamentary procedure.

Will Reynolds @willinois 8/17

In response to a question from Corral Sepúlveda, Ex Dir Perkovich explains that agenda item 17 allows vendors to bid separate year by year prices for providing chemicals, due to the price volatility in chemical markets.

Will Reynolds @willinois 9/17

Only two agenda items were discussed. The committee of the whole passes everything else on the consent agenda. There's no executive session and they take a 5 minute break. When they come back, they'll meet for the regular board meeting.

Will Reynolds @willinois 10/17

Legally, agenda items must be discussed and passed by a committee before going to the full board. The Water Reclamation District does this by having a "committee of the whole," which consists of everyone on the board meeting as a committee.

Will Reynolds @willinois 11/17

The MWRD twitter account had one of their most popular tweets yesterday.
twitter.com/MWRDGC/status/…

Will Reynolds @willinois 12/17

The Water Reclamation District board comes back from break and discusses the amendment that caused some confusion earlier.

Ex. Dir. Perkovich says it will allow the district "wiggle room" for awarding the contract due to increased costs.

It passes unanimously.

Will Reynolds @willinois 13/17

I believe the committee vote on this contract is the first time I've seen Chair Steele rush into a vote without the board understanding what they're voting on.

Next, the clerk reads items into the consent agenda.

Will Reynolds @willinois 14/17

Recent storms are a reminder of the Water Reclamation District's role in managing the stormwater system.
nbcchicago.com/weather/chicag…

Will Reynolds @willinois 15/17

Board Chair Steele wishes everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo and happy Mother's Day.

Commissioner Corral Sepúlveda says on Mother's Day she'd recognizes that she was able to make a choice about becoming a mother and hopes that all women will continue to be able to make that choice.

Will Reynolds @willinois 16/17

Chair Steele unenthusiastically announces public comment time. The same speaker from earlier opposes the district's vaccine policy again. Calls the vaccine a "bio-weapon." Claims the district is forcing employees to "take experimental medical procedures against their will."

Will Reynolds @willinois 17/17

With no other business, the Chicago Water Reclamation District board meeting adjourns. That concludes my live-tweeting for #CHIDocumenters

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Agency Information

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

mwrd.org

(312) 751-6633

public.affairs@mwrd.org

@MWRDGC

See Documenters reporting

Created in 1889 as the Sanitary District of Chicago, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) today is a special-purpose district responsible for treating wastewater and providing stormwater management for residents and businesses in its service area, which encompasses 882.1 square miles and includes Chicago and 128 suburban communities throughout Cook County.

The MWRD serves approximately 10.35 million people each day, including 5.25 million residents of Chicago and 128 suburban communities. To learn more about the agency’s management structure and departments, click here.