The agenda mostly consists of approving contracts for various services and engineering projects undertaken by third party firms. Among these a few things stick out, screenshotted below.

No public comments today. Here is the agenda link: s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentclo…

Commissioners being asked if they'd like any items to be pulled for discussion. Mostly no requests for discussion, though a few.

Item #2 is approved - file:///Users/morleymusick/Downloads/Ordinance%20O25-002%20BTL%202025-02-06.pdf This item is to reduce the tax levy on constituents for MWRD budget. It's approved.

Now they're approving a resolution sponsored by the Board of Commissioners recognizing February as American Heart Mont. Approved.

Per item #7 (file:///Users/morleymusick/Downloads/Legislation%20Text-1.pdf), Commissioner Cameron Davis is asking when will MWRD be generating Renewable Energy Credits (RECS) - to generate income? John Murray (sp?) replies we are generating RECS.

Murray explaining that MWRD energy generating project will likely generate $800k in Renewable Energy Credits. Interesting! To be clear Item 7 was actually to approve MWRD buying 500k in RECS. I wonder why they need to?

Now they are discussing Item #24. Commissioner Cameron Davis is explaining why MWRD is supporting, with $80k, a CC Sherrif program to buy back pharmaceutical drugs. MWRD supports in order to keep pharma out of water supply. mwrd.org/community-acti…

Commissioner Cameron Davis is explaining history of how MWRD is looking to get pharma companies to pay the costs of running drug buyback. Davis is saying vast majority of expenses go towards administering the program, rather than the cost of putting bins out.

Davis: "It's time to pass this cost (80k) back to big pharma."

MWRD President Kari K. Steele celebrating drug buyback partnership btw Sheriff's dept and MWRD and its importance for keeping water pharmaceuticals.

MWRD Commissioner Sharon Waller wants the program expanded, advertised on billboards. Waller emphasizes that she wants program expanded and no break in coverage. Emphasizes that wastewater management does not eliminate pharmaceuticals from water.

MWRD Comm. Precious Brady-Davis asks Comm. Cameron Davis if there is a legal responsibility for pharma companies to pay for drug buyback program?

Based off of slightly veiled exchange btw Cameron Davis and Pres Kari K Steele, it appears that Steele is concerned that Mr. Davis is in favor of cutting the program if taxpayers, rather than pharma companies, have to pay for it. ** I AM FULLY READING BTW THE LINES HERE **

Comm Cameron Davis is emphasizing he wants continuity of program but really wants pharma companies to pay for it, and wants them to start paying for it in < year. Suggests a pro-rata system where MWRD approve program for another 3 months, but does not want it to take full year

to move to getting pharma companies paying for it. Cam Davis says that 80k is too much just to have a partnership with sheriff's dept. Pres Kari Steele saying she wants the numbers on pounds of pharmaceuticals kept out of water distributed to MWRD.

Commissioner Waller suggests producing an invoice and mailing it to a pharmaceutical's association, and getting them to pay for it.

Pres Steele asks whether items to discuss in exec session. No.

Moving to Motions, Ordinances, and Resolutions. Item #2 being read - description below. Approved: An Ordinance directing the County Clerk to reduce the levy of taxes on Capital Improvement Bonds for the levy year 2024

Now Director of Finance Jacqueline Torres doing rapid fire reading of remainder of agenda items, attached below. 2 resolutions for month designations. A report and 3 authorizations.

Items 10-14 read rapid fire.

15-19 read rapid fire.

20-24 read rapid fire. Construction, consulting, and engineering services payment authorizations.

25-26 read. Approval to settle an eminent domain lawsuit. Approval of Report on Green Infrastructure, Detention, and Compensatory Storage Volumes Required by the Watershed Management Ordinance.

All approved unanimously. Interesting projects to dig in to here. MWRD is hosting a Black History Month Event on Feb 20 at 445 pm highlight contributions of Black labor to building.

Streeterville Assc. of Active Residents awarded MWRD an award for repairing the Nicholas J. Melas Centennial Fountain (the one with the water canon that shoots across the river).

Pres. Kari Steele asking Comm.s if there's any new business. Comm. Waller does. Waller wants to identify opportunities to increase transparency to public by including hotlinks to the agenda.

Waller is congratulating MWRD on expeditiously approving permits. Avg working time in '23 and '24 on each permit respectively was 47, 48 days.

Meeting adjourned. That's all folks. With this little extra time I'm just gonna mention some agenda items that seemed interesting.

The MWRD appears to be both buying and selling Renewable Energy Credits. Buying, I would imagine (but don't know), to meet CO2 reduction goals - selling, to generate revenue. RECS are notoriously unreliable, wild west markets. Wd be interesting to understand MWRDs role in them.

MWRD is paying more than $7m for "Truck Hauling of Processed Solids for LASMA and CALSMA". Big money for hauling around poop - which makes sense. LASMA = Lawndale Avenue Solids Management Area. CALSMA = Calumet Solids Management Area

The largest money item on the agenda is a reduction in contract size for IHC construction companies on a project entitled: "McCook Reservoir Rock Wall Stabilization and Geotechnical Instrumentation." From $22,418,508.43, to an amount not to exceed $21,862,160.93.

This would appear to be a huge maintenence project for the McCook Reservoir, enabling MWRD to better monitor the strengths and vulnerabilities of its walls using digital sensors. gza.com/projects/mccoo…

Oh, and crikey, this was on behalf of @CHIdocumenters !