Are subject to search.
Health, food and beverages,
including in metal canisters are not permitted.
Cell phones must be placed on silent prior
to entering the meeting room.
Individuals.
Okay, Mr. Blakemore, we're ready to start. Thank you.
Good morning, everybody.
Uh, we have the Department of Water Management
with us this morning as our first department.
Um, good morning everybody. Thank you for all being here.
Um, we're gonna start this morning with, uh, um, uh,
overview from, actually,
do we have that up on the screen yet?
I'm sorry. We do. I'm sorry. Mr. Blakemore.
I have not had all my coffee yet.
We start with public comment.
This is what happens when I don't start meetings like this.
We have pub, we have two public commenters.
And guess who's first? Mr. Blakemore, you, you are first.
I apologize.
And you've already made your comments, Mr. Blakemore. I
Mean, you did, but now you're on the clock.
I'm official. You are Official. I,
I, I, I can't believe it.
It's 10:00 AM in the morning.
And this is a very, very important meeting I have seen.
My mother said, I said, I saw, she said,
they're not teaching you nothing in school.
I have seen people come up here
and talk about the, the, their meters
and all, everything that's happening.
Where are they today?
That's what makes me unique, different.
And I'm embracing my dear front.
I've seen them get up here,
complain the meters, and not doing this.
They overcharging and this and that, and racism.
Where are the people?
This is how government shouldn't be
working like this.
The people, one Altman, two Altimas are present
and dealing with millions of dollars.
Millions. I I can't believe it.
Ms. Lee and this other gentleman that's, that's present,
evidently these Altimas didn't think
that this was important.
And maybe it is not maybe's why they're not here.
You deserve the government you get
and you get the government you deserve,
where not only the people, where are the ultimate,
and that's dealing with the budget.
And then they got one old man all painted up called Mr.
Blakemore. I, I couldn't wait to get here.
I think I got authorized.
I couldn't even hardly put on this old painted toe.
I said, I gotta get down here.
But I, I knew why I had to come here,
because I knew it was not going to be about nothing.
And I had to see it to believe it.
Again, where are the people
you ultimate are responsible?
You people out here are responsible. Who do you serve?
Whom do you serve? That's why the system is broken.
A democratic hat, uh, uh, look at here.
Be beep. Be be yo three minutes is almost
of Mr. Blake Moore Uhhuh.
I'm, I'm not even talking to the choir.
Not even singing to the choir.
Where about all
something wrong with all of,
and there's not a damn thing wrong
with George Blake Moore, are you hating?
Are you hating? It's not a damn thing wrong with me.
It's something wrong with you and us
and we that have this non-functional government here.
So thank you again. My many have exceeded
and let God bless everybody.
And if you knew better, why you not doing that?
Thank you, Mr. Blakemore. Welcome.
Um, our next public commenter is, uh, Ms. Tiara Conway.
Good morning, Ms. Conway. Make sure you
Good morning. Make
Sure you keep speaking into the microphone,
otherwise, people online can't hear you.
All right. Um, I'm here to speak about my loved one,
Ramon Banks, who's been wrongfully detained in Cook County
Jail for over two years for a weapon.
The Chicago Police McGill, officer McGill Anderson
and Kevin Corn planted on him.
I just wanna know how corrupt could you be
to actually put a weapon in someone's car on body cam
and then write in your whole report that this person
admitted to carrying and having a weapon.
I wanna know how corrupt could you be to
lie in your report
and state that you false your forced entry
inside someone home when the body cam proves
that someone opened a door and allowed you to come in.
How could you have two police reports
with one weapon found in two different locations?
I'm just here and I want to know that the criminals
that you guys are hiring, we need
to have more oversee oversight on them.
It's the only group of organized criminals
that commit crimes without having any penalties.
We need systems in place
to prevent prosecutorial misconduct.
This, that happened to Ramon Banks' intention.
You cannot mistakenly write a whole
something totally different than what this man said.
There are a lot of guilty, innocent people that's
behind bars that pled guilty because they have no voice
and it's them against you guys.
Everybody, the judges, the prosecutors, the lawyers,
they all are corrupt.
They're all taken
and playing parts in, in inside of this society
where there are abusing their authorities
to the CI citizens.
We're scared out here just as well as they are.
It's no right that no one should lose their life in these
type of situations.
Police officers or civilians.
I'm just here to ask you guys, whoever
can please take a look into Ramon Banks case.
Next court date is December 18th.
We want this case to be thrown out.
No, they have no lack of, they have lack of probable cause.
They violated his right prosecutory misconduct,
and they have insufficient evidence.
How is you charging someone with a aggravated, unlawful use
of a weapon when a weapon was never found on
him to Terry free?
Someone you have to have a reasonable
or suspicion that a crime is at foot
or someone is armed in dangers.
How could you have that if someone is just
sitting in a parked car?
I need you guys to please take a look into this case
and see what's going on with our city. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Conway.
That concludes our public comment
'cause that's how we're supposed to start the meeting.
Sorry about that, everybody.
Um, now we can get to Director Gray
with her, uh, with her report.
Thank you, vice Chairman Lee, auditor Persons and guest.
Good morning. My name is Janice Soda Gray.
I'm the director of kofa.
And now we're gonna look at a snapshot
of the Department of Water.
The total appropriation for the recommended budget
for fiscal year 25 is 417.2 million,
which represents this increase of 6% from fiscal year 24.
The permanent improvement account was cut by 66%,
dropping from 29.95 million to 10.2 million.
This reduction is partly due
to the five 40 construction account,
which decreased significantly from 23 million
in fiscal year 24 to 4.7 million in 25.
Conversely, expenditures for contractual services rose
by 42%, increasing from 36 million
to 51.2 million.
The total budget at full-time equivalence
for fiscal year 25 increased
by 10 rising from 2,482
to 2,492.
Additionally, personnel services for fiscal year 25 amount
to 276.7 million Non-personnel,
one 40 point 40 million. Thank you.
Thank you, director. I would gray, uh, we have
with us Commissioner Randy Connor with us, uh, this morning.
Um, and many of his staff,
if you wouldn't mind introducing everybody
that's here on the diocese as well as in the box,
uh, we'd appreciate it.
Absolutely. Good morning. Um, to my direct right,
I have Mari Sauce, Santiago,
managing Deputy Commissioner of Administration.
Then in the box I have Joe Vira, first deputy commissioner,
Matthew Quinn, managing Deputy Commissioner,
operations and Maintenance.
Karen Beards, managing Deputy Commissioner Legal Services.
Brendan Schreiber, chief engineer of sewers.
William to Beatty, deputy Commissioner of Restoration.
Justin Redington, contracts administrator.
Angel Hawthorne, director of Public Affairs.
Jacqueline Toledo, deputy Commissioner of Personnel Payroll.
And Rachel Pisar, director of Finance.
Thank you very much. Uh, would you like
to go ahead and read your statement?
Yes.
Good morning. Chairperson Lee, members
of the committees on budget of, uh,
and government operations and members of the city council.
Again, I am Randy Con, commissioner of the Department
of Water Management, and I am pleased to appear
before you today to present
and discuss our 2025 budget proposal.
The mission of the 2000 men
and women of DWM is to deliver high quality drinking water
and to officially manage waste and rainwater.
We operate two of the world's largest conventional
purification plants and 12 pumping stations
that distribute 750 million gallons of water daily
through more than 4,300 miles of water, main
to 5.1 million people in Chicago and 120 suburbs.
That's equivalent to 41% of the state of Illinois.
On the sewer side, the department is responsible
for the transmission of wastewater and rainwater.
The more than 4,500 miles of sewer Maine
to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
of Greater Chicago for processing,
protecting public health is our primary concern.
And we take this responsibility very seriously.
We perform over 600,000 analysis
of water per year throughout the treatment system 24 7,
and adjust treatment protocols as necessary.
We also monitor water quality in Lake Michigan
to identify potential issues early.
The result of these steps is that for years,
Chicago's drinking water has met
or exceeded all federal, state
and industry regulations, including those for lead.
My priorities as commissioner are to identify
and increase efficiencies at DWM while serving our customers
in an equitable manner to ensure that we are functioning
as good public stewards of our resources,
time, effort, and money.
I have reorganized the department to set us up for success,
listening to the priorities
of residents and council members.
I have empowered staff to make our work more efficient
and reduce overtime and expenditures while improving
and prioritizing customer service.
I have created a div, a new division of restoration
to ensure that any job we do is completely finished
by restoring the site in a timely manner.
As you know, this is a main source of resident frustration.
After any construction work,
I have realigned responsibilities under existing titles
to better leverage the expertise of staff.
Our managing deputy Commissioner of operations
and distribution will now oversee the Bureau
of Water Supply, which includes water treatment,
pumping, and water quality.
The division of procurement services
and regional partnerships will be overseen
by our Managing Deputy Commissioner for, for contracts,
regulatory, and legal to better
streamline field coordination.
All plumbing inspections will be combined under division
of meter services, which is under the management
of our Deputy commissioner for lead
service line replacement.
DWM is a, is an agile department
that is constantly changing depending on
the priority needs of the city.
As commissioner, I'm always evaluating the direction
that the department is headed, and I'll ensure
that we are aligned with Mayor Brandon Johnson's vision,
agenda, and policies.
I'll also ensure the department
is functioning at its highest level.
At the center of all our work is e is equity and our staff
and our contracts and in our operations,
we are looking forward to working
with our union educational partners to train
and retain a diverse workforce
that reflects the face of our city.
Our lead service line replacement programs represents
substantial investments over the upcoming decades.
Good careers with well paying jobs will be the result,
and I wanna be very intentional about everyone benefiting
from them, particularly those from historically
disinvested communities.
Recently we're, we were awarded the first ever Department
of Procurement Services contracting Equity award as 49%
of our contracts go to diverse firms.
However, that is not good enough.
We have been working very hard with DPS
to create more opportunities for smaller
minority owned firms to bid on our projects.
We have also started to develop contract opportunities
through the use of the small business initiative
and divided up larger contracts
to make them accessible to these firms.
We have insurance and bonding requirements
and included more North American industry classification
system codes to make room for different types of firms
and subcontractors.
When I was at DWMS commission the first time,
I mandated diversity training for all 2000 DWM employees.
Upon my return, I have expanded our focus on DEI
by hiring A DEI officer
and will continue the department's DEI education initiatives
by offering a series of workshops on mental health
so the employees and supervisors can create a welcoming
environment that promotes understanding
and wellbeing operationally.
The first of the lead service line replacement programs we
stood up was the equity program committed
to helping those least able
to replace a lead service line themselves.
We were the first to use community de block,
community development block grant funding
to create a replacement program for those
who are income qualified with the goal
of replacing lead lines at all licensed daycares in Chicago,
our daycare program prior prioritizes daycares located in
lower income census areas to create the maximum benefit
for the children who attend them.
Looking ahead, we are always improving our lead service,
repla lead service line replacement programs.
It is no secret that with over 400,000 lead service
led service lines installed for 1986,
their replacement will be a huge multi-year,
multi-billion dollar effort.
Our programs replace both the public
and the private size of the lines for free,
amplifying the need to secure funding.
We continue to work with our federal
and state partners to leverage any dollars available
for this cornerstone of our work.
We are committed to providing the highest level
of professional service for our customers
and building a strong sustainable water infrastructure
to meet Chicago's need and for future generations.
And I look forward to working with each
of you on these important water issues. Thank you.
Thank you very much, commissioner Connor.
Um, we're gonna go ahead and start with Alderman O'Shea.
Thanks, chairman. Good morning, commissioner.
Good morning, alderman. Good morning, alderman.
Um, I'd like to start out talking about, um,
our aging infrastructure.
You and I have talked about this.
Um, we experienced a serious situation earlier this summer.
Um, uh, what do we need to do
and what are we doing, um, about our pumping stations,
the age of them, um, some of our older infrastructure.
Um, so thank you for that question, aut,
and yes, we've had several conversations regarding that.
Um, so one of the things that we're taking a look at again,
is, is the overall aging infrastructure from, from the, um,
the filtration plants through the pumping stations,
through our, even our tunneling system.
And one of the things that we're doing is we're, um,
doing a, um, an overview, doing an inspection of all
of our facilities to understand what
that's gonna look like over the next 10 years.
And that will drive our,
our facility CIP over the next 10 years.
As you mentioned, um, Roselyn Pumping Station was built in
1912, so it's, it's over a hundred years old.
Um, we've done some upgrades there.
Um, but, but as always, we're continue to look to figure out
how we can continue to upgrade.
Um, it was unfortunate the incident happened.
Um, there was a blowout on one of the, um,
the valves within the station
that was still in place from when the,
from when the station was built.
Um, luckily we were able to get it, um, get the water,
get it all shut down and get it repaired that night,
and to be able to get, restore water back
to the neighborhoods within the next few hours.
Um, the one thing, other thing
that we can do is just continue to look for funding.
Um, we're looking at, uh, billions
and billions of dollars of in upgrades a a
across these pumping stations.
We're also looking at is it even feasible to make repairs
or, or continue to maintain them,
or is it make it make sense to just rebuild them
and start fresh to start fresh?
And that's what this assessment is gonna do for us.
It's gonna give us that idea of
what we need to do over the next 10 years.
And obviously we would be looking for help
from at the federal level and possibly at the state level.
Absolutely. And we have those conversations
on a day, you know, on a regular.
Um, as far as, um, where our funding comes from
and what we like to dedicate it to.
And as we continue to do our assessments, we will be asking
for asking for more money.
As we get into that more, um, I would ask
that our body be included to help support
and reach out to our federal partners and our,
and our state partners
because, uh, obviously this is, this is critical.
Thank you. Absolutely.
Um, moving on, do we know a number
as far as, um, people in the city
of Chicago customers, uh, delinquent on water bills?
And is there
a plan as to what we might be able to do
to get some of that money back?
Um, I can't give you a specific number
because that number changes daily as people pay
and that, you know, and people don't pay.
Um, but what I, I can say this is that we're working
with the Department of Finance, uh, to try to figure out how
to start addressing that issue.
Um, it's, at this point, it's probably somewhere
around $600 million, um, that we are,
are working toward trying to, to recover
and trying to work with the,
with the residents to be able to get that money.
Um, hopefully, um, our,
our finance team is working to, I mean,
even if we got a portion of that 600 million, uh,
that could help address the very serious issue we have,
um, with the budget gap.
So whatever we can do to be helpful with that, uh, an ams,
an amnesty program in 2025 could, could help with that.
Because as we all know, we've had a couple years
of rough budgets ahead of us.
Um, commissioner few years ago,
we were able to negotiate with the city of Joliet,
um, and I believe we're, we're at a 120 municipalities, uh,
get their water through us.
Correct. Can we talk about how we're doing with that project
and hopefully re continuing to re retain all
of those municipalities that get their water through us.
Um, absolutely. So the Joliet project is moving forward.
Um, it's a little bit a little behind schedule.
We're looking to break ground at the Southwest Pumping
station to start providing them that start
that construction, uh, first quarter of 2025.
Um, as you know, it's about a 36 mile pipeline
from Chicago out there.
And, uh, it's gonna be a lot
of work that's gonna be performed.
So it's, we have to go through a lot
of other municipalities, and we're working
with Juliet on that as well.
Um, it's gonna estimate to bring about a hundred
and about, I'm sorry, about $30 million
of year in additional, uh, revenue for the city of Chicago.
Um, with that being said, they're bringing on six customers,
um, and it's, they're being called the Grand
Prairie Water Commission.
And from that, we should be able
to even bring on more customers,
which will help retain the customers that we have as well.
Thank you. Um, well, having worked
with you in many departments over the years, um,
I really appreciate your leadership.
Um, I, I see it both, you know,
from 10,000 feet,
but I, I also see it in person on the ground
when we had the Roseland Pumping station went down
and thousands of Southwest side residents without water,
many of them, my colleague, uh, alderman Mosley's community,
you were out there all night, you were there, uh,
along with your staff.
Uh, and that didn't go unnoticed.
And, um, I really appreciate your leadership.
Appreciate everybody in the box,
appreciate everybody out there that, uh,
as we get into the cold season, we'll be working on our,
uh, water main breaks.
Uh, thank you Commissioner. Thanks, chair. Thank you, chair.
Thank you, alderman. Um, next we're gonna go to, uh,
chair Dowell and then followed by Chair Viegas.
Thank you. Uh, Madam Chair.
Good morning, commissioner,
and good morning to everyone in the box.
Morning. Um, I don't really have a lot of questions for you,
commissioner, because, uh, obviously our challenge is
with the corporate fund,
and you have, uh, your enterprise funded.
So I don't, uh, really see how
you can help us with our budget challenges this year.
But I do have a few questions.
Um, wanted to follow up on the Pumping station, uh,
questions from Alderman O'Shea.
Uh, and I noticed that there were drastic cuts to the Bureau
of Water Supply, um,
in about about $30 million in, in cuts.
And you created this new division for pumping stations.
So is that what I'm seeing, just the movement of,
or the renaming of a division?
Um, absolutely. So what we,
when we took a look at this year's budget, we wanted
to make sure that everything was aligned properly
so we knew where everything was.
And what that does is it gives us a chance
to look at our pumping operations separately
and independently from everything else, as
that will help drive the cost of service
that we'll go to in 2030.
Um, on the, for as far as our water rates.
Um, it also just gives us a truer cost of,
um, of our pumping.
Okay. Um, you know, I also noticed
that you have about 372 vacancies listed.
Um, and my question is, what's the plan for those vacancies
and how many do you reasonably expect to fulfill in 2025,
and perhaps maybe some of those vacancies can be cut
or counter expensed,
and that funding used for lead, um, height replacement.
What's your thoughts on that? Um,
So of the 372, well, let me take a step back and say this.
Every year we,
we hire about 200 people across the department itself.
Um, of those 200 people, that kind of keeps us where we need
to be to operationally because, uh,
because of our aging workforce,
our a it it's accountable in our aging workforce, as well as
we have people who will come onto the department
to gain experience and then they move on.
Um, and then by doing that, it makes us have
to keep hiring and keep hiring.
So we try to push the 200 every year to ensure
that we stay where we need to be.
Uh, the plan is to keep hiring, um, as, again,
it's the aging workforce that I have right now.
Um, at any given point in time, I can have 15 to 20 people,
uh, on staff to retire just
because of the, the age, uh, that they've been there.
So we're in the process of just working with, you know, DHR
and O to be able to just constantly
continue to fill these vacancies.
I mean, what, and by filling those vacancies,
it'll actually start to cut back on our overtime
because we 'cause of our shift coverage.
So those vacancies are kind of a part of that.
But again, it's all about the attrition
that happens within the department
over, over the course of the year.
So there's no wiggle room in your viewpoint of, uh,
just focusing on 200 of those 372 vacancies.
I'm trying to figure out how we fi put more money into lead
line replacements without having to, um,
I know we're gonna have to depend on other governmental
agencies and, but is there more that we could be doing?
Um, you know, again, uh, chairwoman,
we take a look at this all the time when I kind of,
you know, I'm like the task master when it comes to trying
to figure out, um, how we can do it more leaner.
And, you know, there are a lot of things
that go into our crew makeups that go into our, um, just,
uh, with the, the safety aspect of what we do.
And there are a lot of things that are driven by, you know,
by the unions and by the, the, the, the CBAs as far as
safety and a number of people that we have
to have on shift, things of that nature.
Um, so it's a little bit more difficult to try
to cut vacancies.
Um, we can always take a look at it to see what we could do.
And I challenge my staff every day to figure out,
um, if that's possible.
But I will say this, that one of the things
that we are doing, um,
is taking an overall look at the department,
and we're doing a study to make sure
that we have the right number
of people in the right titles in the right places.
Um, so hope, when that comes back,
it may tell us something a little different,
but right now I don't, I'm not, I can't see it.
But hopefully the people that are doing
that study can come back with some different question. When
Do you anticipate that study being complete?
Um, probably second quarter of 2025.
Okay. Um, I noticed also
that there was a big increase in the
contractual services line,
and I'm assuming that's
for the water replacement work that you're gonna do?
Or is, is it for something else?
Which one is that? Can
you, do you know which line that is?
Which page you're looking at? Al Woman?
Uh, no, just contractual services.
So if the, the contractual service line is,
it's a couple different things.
It is our, um, any of our contracts that we have out there.
So a lot of our costs went up by th between 30
and 40%, between 20 from 20 from 2023 to 2024.
And, and what, and what we're looking at right now,
going into 2025.
So a lot of that is suggest to cover those,
those contractual costs as far as a restoration
as regardless our, um, our disposal fees, uh, anything
that's, you know, that we have to do.
So it's just for the, it's not specifically
for lead no placement lines.
That's what I was getting at. No. Okay.
And then I guess my last question is, um,
there's a $6 million increase in salaries in the Bureau
of Operations and Distribution that's coming, um,
out of the corporate fund, I think. Is that
I don't, I don't think so, because we don't,
It's not out of the corporate fund.
I'm sorry. It's out of the, uh,
special revenue funds.
Let me take a pass on that question.
Unless you have the, I know the $6 million figures accurate,
and I know the bureau is accurate.
I just need to check the funding level funding source.
That's probably the contractual increases for, um,
for the, the union increases, the wage increases.
I'm gonna take a round two
'cause I need to check something out.
No problem. Thank you Madam Chair. No problem.
Thank you Chair. Um, chair Viegas.
Thank you. Uh, Madam Chair, commissioner, et all.
Good morning. Welcome. Um, my questions are gonna be related
around lead service lines.
Um, so we're number one in the country
for lead service lines.
The general assembly gave us unfunded mandate
of requiring us to eliminate all the lead service lines
by 2050 or so.
Uh, 20 years from now? 20, no,
That's the federal government, right?
Correct. So the general assembly gave us 50 years,
No. So that, that's been pushed
down to 20 to 20 years. Okay.
Well, no, let me back up it, so it's 10 years actually,
but we can ask for, um, uh, a dispensation to, to,
to extend it to 20 years
because of the amount of service lines that we have. Right?
So it's an unfunded mandate.
I know that the, the capital bill from the federal level
thanks to, uh, Senator Duckworth included about 20
to 30 billion for lead service lines throughout the country.
So we're competing with other municipalities
for those dollars.
For lead service lines. Um, have we, has the City
of Chicago submitted any type of grant requests
for those federal dollars
for the replacement of lead service lines?
Uh, so that money we not directly.
So that money as it comes through the state, we talk
to the state to be able to figure out what
that funding level is gonna be.
And the state determines how that money is distributed.
So the eep IEPA Yes. Is the entity that does that. Okay.
How much have we requested from
the IEPA for the lead service lines?
What is that 40? I ask that, uh,
Joe Vira would ask, answer that question.
Good, good Morning.
Morning, uh, Joe Vira first Deputy Water Department.
Um, so for our lead service line, uh, program,
um, this year for fiscal year 2025,
we are receiving $14 million from the state
for what's called the SRF Through the SRF program.
That $14 million is the first,
what we're calling the first installment on these payments.
This is the, is the first time we're receiving funding.
Um, prior to, uh, January of this year,
we were actually ineligible for, um,
lead service line funding
because there was a provision in the state statutes
that mandated that, uh, funding
for lead service line replacements go to
what are called disadvantaged communities.
There's a very specific definition in the state
statutes on what that means.
It's basically a population cap of either 10,000
or 25,000, uh, that's now being revised.
So that that is now, uh, done on a census track basis.
So in Chicago we have, uh, very low income census tracks.
So we did get, uh, $14 million
to do block level lead service line replacements, um,
in eight areas of the city.
They're primarily, uh, they're all on the south
and, uh, southeast sides of the city.
So we did receive the first tranche of the, uh,
the bipartisan infrastructure law
funding that you had mentioned.
Um, uh, it's for fiscal year 2025.
We're gonna be applying for that same funding.
Um, the blocks that I, uh, referenced, uh,
the way the state does their, um, calculation, they score
your blocks, they score the census tracks, I should say.
Um, and our census tracks, some of our census tracks in the,
uh, south part of the city.
They have scored among the highest in the state.
So we're gonna keep going, um, for additional.
So let, let me, let me
interrupt you there, 'cause my time is limited.
So with the formula that the state is incorporating,
what was the total amount that was available
and what does 14 million, uh, equate
to percentage wise of the total amount?
Uh, so the amount that is given by the state or that is
provided, the way it works is
No, so from the federal government gives it
to E-P-A-E-P-A in turn decides right,
what municipalities based on the census tracks.
Now, since Chicago has the majority
of the lead service lines
and the majority of the census tracks that would qualify,
what is the ratio, what's the percentage of funding
that we received from the EPA
for the lead service line replacements?
The state of Illinois received $230 million in, in, uh,
bipartisan infrastructure law funding. So, so we
Didn't even get, we didn't even get 10% of the funding
for, for the lead service line replacements,
despite the fact that we have the majority
of lead service lines in the, in the state, in the country,
but also have the majority
of the census tracks that will qualify.
Is that an accurate statement? That's correct. Okay.
So what are we doing as a city to go down to Springfield
to tell Springfield that we have this huge problem,
an unfunded mandate that you've, that you've imposed on us
to get the lead out of the lead service lines?
So we've had those conversations with IEPA.
We meet with them on a regular basis, um,
and they've been very helpful to us to help us understand
what their scoring is and how to keep applying and to,
and what and how to keep applying for that
Money. Yeah. And, and
commissioner, this is not, this is not a,
a slight on your department.
I'm just trying to figure out what the overall strategy is
here, because, um, Newark, New Jersey was able
to get the lead service line in three years.
They declared a state of emergency in order to do that.
I think at some point the city, given the fact
that when you take the $14 million
that they gave us at approximate cost
of 20,000 per household to replace the lead service lines,
we're talking 700 for the year.
That means that unless we get some additional funding,
we're talking about maybe a hundred years
before we're able to get this lead service line, uh,
lead service lines out.
But, and, and that would, that would push us way past the
dead, the, the deadline that they've imposed on us.
So I just think that that, uh, the administration needs
to get a lot more aggressive down in Springfield
around figuring out what we're gonna do to deal
with this lead service line, uh,
because we're not getting any help.
And I don't know if, if you, uh,
if your department has thought of a strategy,
if the state doesn't help, how
to get the lead service lines out, um,
because, you know, obviously there's,
there's re reports out there
and research out there that shows that any type of exposure
to lead kids having exposure to lead ser
to lead is a problem.
Um, and so at some point there has to be a a, a really a,
um, this, this issue has to be highlighted to the point
where we can get this, we can get, finally get the lead out.
This would be, this would be a huge jobs
bill, huge jobs bill.
'cause we're talking about at least anywhere between eight
to $10 billion worth of work,
um, that potentially could happen.
And then if we're talking about getting folks exposed
to the trades, here's a perfect opportunity.
'cause there's a lot of manual labor that's included in this
as well, especially when you're getting in these dense
areas, um, where, uh, there needs to be, um,
actually hand shoveling and all these other types
of trades that are there.
So, um, I, I'm just frustrated with this
'cause we've been talking about this for quite some time.
And, and again, this is not, uh,
any slight on the leadership at the water department.
Uh, this is an issue
that I just don't feel we have a plan for.
And I wanna, I wanna just put this on the record
that we have to figure out if there's a way
to declare some state of emergency around this issue
so we can get some type of federal funding
or federal assistance, or else we're gonna continue
to find ourselves every year talking about, you know,
replacing a thousand, 2000,
10,000 when in fact we have 400,000,
approximately 400,000 lead service lines,
number one in the country.
Um, and, and we gotta deal with this.
So I, I, uh, I, I'm, I'm here, I'm here to help.
I'm here to partner. I'm here to talk to my state reps
and state senators to talk about what needs to be done.
But I think that at some point there needs to be, uh, uh,
the, the, the alarm needs to, to sound
that this is a health, a health issue,
and that we gotta find ways to pay for that.
Number two, um, is around selling of water.
I know that we have, um, secured a contract with Joliet.
Um, what else?
Last budget, my understanding was
that there was somebody in the water department
that was gonna be a salesperson going
to different municipalities to try to sell water.
How's that going? And have you started that yet?
Uh, yeah. So that's actually part
of the whole Juliet deal.
Um, okay. Uh, so as Deputy Commissioner Dave Cohen, uh,
was brought on to be able to be that representative
for the suburban accounts, um, it's going well.
We have people who, who are actually want
to come onto our system.
Okay. Um, that, especially now, given that a lot
of the aquifers are starting to dry up downstate, um,
that's one of the reasons why we're trying to invest
so much money into the actual infrastructure,
the pumping stations, to be able to keep the, uh,
the system at, at, uh, in good working condition.
The reality is that we are only using
about a third of our capacity.
Um, and which means that we have a lot
of room to be able to build.
Um, but we can't build unless we maintain what we have.
And by going through the Juliet dealers going
to give us the ability to see where our wins
and our losses were and how we can do it better
as we continue to, uh, to build out the system. Well,
I appreciate that. And
I would also add
that I hope the deputy commissioner's job is also about
client relations as well, making sure that the clients
that we have now, we're not losing them to Evanston
or other municipalities that are also in the water business.
'cause we're not the only ones. Yeah,
Absolutely. I mean, it's, uh,
I mean, he, he does a great job at
what he, you know, at keeping those client relations going.
Um, like, but you know, it's just like anything,
everybody's always looking for the best deal.
Yeah. Um, but we're in constant conversation with all
of rock suburban customers,
especially our direct connect customers to make, to ensure
that they're getting the best deal, to make sure
that they're happy with their contract
and make sure that, um, we're giving them that personal,
that personable service that we, we hadn't done in the past.
And my last thing would be about coordination.
Um, the, I have a big problem
with the underground coordination crew
because I don't think they coordinate enough.
And I'll tell you a perfect example.
And your department wast was, uh, part of it,
but you were not the commissioner at the time.
So, uh, for my colleagues, uh, brand new bike lane, uh,
protected, protected, uh, uh, bike lane with concrete, uh,
CDOT just finished repaving the road,
not more than seven days later,
water departments out there saying, we have an emergency
around lead service line replacements.
And I asked them, I said, well, you know,
this road was not paved for two weeks.
Why didn't you come? And they're like, well, the under,
under the statute or under ordinance an emergency is,
could be, could be, uh, could allow for 30 days
to take place in order to remedy.
So I think we need to take a, that was
with the commissioner's response and then that,
that they have 30 days to, to address e emergency.
Now, when I think about water
and emergency, I'm thinking about water's blowing out the
street and everything's leaking.
Not, not an emergency, is not
because you failed to schedule in accordance with CDI.
And that's where I think the, the, the coordination, um,
the underground coordination folks need
to do a better job at, at, at, um, coordinating
with water department, all the,
all the infrastructure departments as well as,
as the utilities to make sure that we're not, we're not, um,
uh, and I say we government is not looked at as someone
that's not doing things efficiently.
Absolutely. Ottoman. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you,
Chair Viegas. Next we're
gonna go to chair, uh, Rodriguez. Of
Course.
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
Um, I think Alder Viegas was taken from my notes here.
Um, I'll start on another topic
and then come back to these items.
Um, so thank you so much, uh, commissioner
for being here as always.
Uh, very delighted to, to work with your crew.
Uh, we had a, a great model, uh,
lead service line replacement there in my
ward, uh, last year.
Uh, it took a long time to happen,
but I hope we've, uh, learned a lot from that endeavor.
Um, redid a, a whole new block
and the grasses seems to be greener on
that block than anywhere else.
Uh, so, uh, thank you for that work.
Um, along the lines of, uh, some questioning I'll be having
for CDOT and aviation, uh, your department is one
of the biggest as far as, um, working
with construction contractors.
And to the extent that I wanted
to delve a little bit deep into, um, this 49% number
that you threw out there, which is, which is, uh,
which seems pretty good, um, as far as, um, hiring, um,
uh, minority contractors is, is what I think, uh,
you stated the framework as.
Um, I'm particularly interested in the workforces
and the hiring of apprentices, um, in this workforce.
And I'm just wondering if you guys can elaborate a little
bit about how you guys go about that.
Are there incentives to some
of your contractors for that type of work?
So, um, thank you for that, Ottman.
So we take a look at our contracts all the time.
Um, depending on the contract
and how it's funded, there's certain things we can
and cannot put inside the contract,
you know, depending on the funding.
Um, but we do work with them
and ask them to look, you know, to start
to look at potential, uh, people to bring on, uh, to be able
to as, as far as, uh, uh, new hires to be able to,
to learn the trades and, you know, apprentices.
Um, and we just, we act, we, we do ask them, we talk
to 'em about it as well as even, uh, trying to partner with,
you know, a lot of the trade unions as, as well as,
you know, just having those conversations.
Um, it's a very difficult situation
because you just can't,
you can't force anybody to hire anybody.
But you can put provisions in, like, again, like I said,
in certain contracts that will, that they have to meet on a,
on a, you know, on a certain level.
Yeah. And I guess, uh, I,
I probably should have sent this to you ahead of time.
I'll send it to the other two departments as well.
But, um, I, I just wanna get a better feel for, um,
these contractual services
and what kind of demands we have on these in these, uh,
companies and, uh, how they're performing.
So I, I guess I'll just put it into the, to the,
to the verbal record.
I like to, um, receive through the chair the percent
of work hours on these contracts that are, uh, done
by apprentices, particularly.
'cause I'm, I'm particularly interested in
how we're getting people into these fields, what trades, um,
and unions are represented, uh, in these jobs as well.
Um, and if we can get that for the last year
or so, I think that'd be helpful, uh, to get a feel for, uh,
what your department's doing, um,
in this respect to, to our workforce.
Um, in addition, the number
of people employed in these contracts and,
and I, as I stated, the, the,
the trades that are, that are there.
Absolutely. Um, couple of, uh, um, now I'll go back
to Alder and Viegas.
I would also like through the chair to know the number
of lead service lines that we replaced in 2324,
and do we have a projection for, for 25?
And if you could talk a little bit about that,
what are is our work expanding into the next
year on, on this endeavor?
Um, absolutely. So in 2024, we're on schedule, uh,
to probably do about 5,000 lead service lines.
Um, next year we're projecting as long
as funding is in place and we have the manpower
and the ability to complete the work.
Um, probably somewhere close to 8,000, which is helping us
to ramp up to, uh, to potentially start our,
the major work in 2027.
So, um, we're the, the, the way we're doing this is,
you know, basically by, uh, breaking a lot
of these contracts down and being able to bring on,
you know, smaller companies as we talked about,
the block level, um, locations,
and, um, as well as, uh, replacing 'em with our, uh,
our watermen and our sewer main projects.
Okay. And, and, and just remind us of the, of the scope.
You said, you know, uh, eight, 8,000 or so next year.
What's, what do we, what do we really need
to get to achieve to that?
Uh, I think you said 10 years is
but we, we have some subsequent years
thereafter that we can get there. Correct.
So for us to be able to do it in the 10 years,
it's approximately 38,000 per year, starting in 2027.
Um, if we get the dispensation to be able to do it
for 20 years, it comes down to about 19,000 per year.
And with, and the way that we're breaking out our contracts,
we're trying to make sure that we are, uh,
encouraging people to bid on them,
especially the minority companies.
And we are trying to do it more mentor, mentor, protege, uh,
programs so that people can come on
and actually learn what we do.
We're unbundling these projects so that, you know,
maybe the, maybe the plumber can go in
and just do the lead service line itself
to change it out to copper.
One company can do the excavation, one company can do the,
um, the restoration.
So we're looking at a lot of different pieces to, to this,
to, to try to get people on working. And
We're looking at a lot of potential ramp up.
Absolutely. Um, but obviously the funding
mechanisms need to be there as well.
So I, I concur with my colleague
as far as being a supporter.
This is a major issue.
I've got one of the youngest communities in the city
of Chicago, a lot of babies in my ward, thank God.
Absolutely. Um, and we gotta, we gotta take care of 'em.
Um, uh, the last line of, of, uh, that forgive me,
that I wanted to go down was on, um, again, the, the, the,
the, the sale of water.
Um, and I think Der Viegas was talking a little bit about
expanding our sales base.
I'm more interested in hearing about,
and forgive me for putting it this way,
but the deadbeat, uh, entities out there, um,
and I shouldn't call it deadbeat, that's probably being, um,
it's, it's a lot more, more nuanced, right?
There's, there's, there's township cities
that are just having a lot of challenges,
but how are we doing as far as getting payment from folks?
What, what, what's, what, what's, what's the relative scope
of, of, of what we're getting into?
What's due to us? How are we doing that better?
How are we working with folks
to get those payments in as well?
Uh, so right now, um, on the delinquent accounts,
it's four suburbs that are delinquent to us right now.
Um, it come to about the tune of about $60 million.
Um, I can't really talk about the details
'cause a lot of it's still in litigation.
Um, but I will say that we are working with the Department
of Finance and with the law law department to try
to make sure that they stay current on their payments
and ensure that we're having conversations with them
to ensure that they're able to make payment, you know,
with a payment schedule that they can adhere to.
And that's 60 million.
What does that represent as to our total sales to external,
uh, government entities or ENT entities?
Um, I would have to get that,
get that for you through the chair.
Okay, that's fine.
Uh, I'm looking forward to getting that data. I'm good.
Madam Chair, thank you so much.
Absolutely. Thank you very much.
Uh, chair Rodriguez, we're gonna go to Alderman, uh,
president Pro Tem Nugent, and then Alderman Vasquez.
Good morning. Uh, hi, commissioner.
Good morning to you and your team. Good morning,
Alderman. Um,
I just had a couple quick things I wanted to bring up.
This microphone's off first.
Um, I wanna thank you
and your team for working with us on our pilot
with storm drains in the ward following, uh,
the big floods of the last few years.
That's been a really successful program.
We're really excited. Um,
that would not have happened without the help
of Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Quinn on your team.
So thank you. Um, question for you, what can we do
to reduce the time on drain inspections,
especially private drain issues?
Any thoughts on that?
Um, I mean, it's, it, it's all about the,
and if I can say it like this, all the, it's all about the,
um, the what I, what I call the flavor of the day, right?
What, what, what, what comes in that morning
as far as emergencies, right?
So we have our schedules that we put together every day
for our crews and our inspectors to go out.
But depending on what's going on, for example, if we know
that we are gonna have, you know, six inches of rain,
you know, we, our inspectors are out doing other things.
So that kind of pushes that down a little bit in the
schedule so we can try to get, make sure that, you know,
the streets are open and water's down and flowing.
Um, but I think it's more, um, our ability to be able
to get more, more inspectors on
and be able to really, really hone in on how we, uh,
how we schedule their work and how we direct them as well.
Okay. I appreciate that. Um, that's really all I have.
My colleagues have, have hit most of my questions,
but I do wanna thank you and your team.
I, um, you don't get my calls usually nine to five Monday
through Friday, right?
It's, it's at all the odd hours.
So thanks to you and your team for,
for being good partners with us.
Absolutely all. Thanks Chairwoman. Thank you.
Chair Vasquez, followed by Chair Taylor.
Thank you very much, chairwoman.
Thank you so much for being here. Um, uh,
I think the first question I have is a more to the chair.
So I think a number of us are,
as we're contemplating different fees and taxes
and trying to solve this budget
and raise revenue, uh, so
that's coming up is a water bottle tax.
And so we know that there are communities
that are more inclined to get water bottles
because they're concerned about the lead service, uh,
not being, you know, lead lines not being replaced
and kind of lead in the water.
So I think what I'd like to see through the chair is, um,
and I know you guys have done this annually, is like the map
of the lead service lines
that have been replaced need to be replaced.
The amount of lead, uh, testing kits that have been ordered,
and then the ones that have gotten results back.
Because I think sometimes what we've seen is, um,
folks either aren't requesting the kids
or they're requesting them, but then they're waiting forever
to get the results to figure out what they can do next.
And so I think as we're thinking about it holistically,
we wanna make sure the communities
that have been historically impacted, um, are being,
are having those needs
and concerns addressed as we're talking about that.
So I think, um, just getting
that information would be helpful.
Um, what is the process of checking a, um,
if somebody ordered a lead kit
and they're calling to get the response
and they haven't gotten a response, what is
that process like and how do we double check out of
how many lead kits we sent out?
How many we're getting the results back,
like proactively? What does that look like?
Uh, so that process is when a resident calls
for a lead testing kit, um, it,
it immediately gets within a few days of the request, um,
a label is created and that is, and it's mailed out.
Once it's mailed out, then the resident has to go
through the process of, you know, filling the bottles,
you know, following the directions.
Um, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
Sometimes people get the test kits
and they become cup holders,
you know, in their homes, right?
So it's, yeah. So that's the reality of it.
But once they get it, they, they get the, they sit, take it,
get it to us, they can mail it back and we'll pick it up.
Usually within, uh, two weeks, we have the results
back from our third, our, our, uh, our testing vendor.
And then one, once those results are back,
we contact the residents either way to let them know
what we, what, what needs to be done
and what those results are.
So in, in that gap, to your point
where they get the lead kit, some
of them become cup holders, right?
They're not doing their due dili,
they're not doing their part.
Is there a follow up at that point?
Like, Hey, wanna make sure you received it?
Are, are you getting it out? Is there a phone call done
to any of the residents or anything like that?
Um, if there is, if there is information in the system
where we can contact them, we have reached out to them.
One of the things that we've done now,
we've created a new type code for ourselves to understand
how many test kits have gone out.
So it's, it's, we call it like the,
like the second touch, right?
To understand, um, what that look,
how many people have done it so we can start to reach out
to them and try to get them to, to send it back to us.
That would be helpful. Um, I, I, I, I, I,
I think pe different board have different approaches.
I know in 40 we'd love to know the list of those folks
because we, we have been doing since
before covid, like cost of seniors if they needed help.
And I think having a team that already have volunteers
and interns to make those calls, if there's folks
that we can follow up and say, Hey, did you get your kit?
Did it get dropped off? Do you need help mailing it?
Um, would be something we'd be more than happy to do.
So any any level of partnership
that could be done there, we'd appreciate.
Absolutely. Okay. Um, the,
the next question is really the, the, the second series,
the, probably the last question I have actually is, uh,
we know emergencies happen.
Uh, actually the team's been really good about being very
quick on some of these things.
But we've got one instance and,
and the reason it's coming up is the example happening right
now in 40, I think it's like the 2200 block of foster where
it was an emergency DWM came to do,
you know, the, the, the fix.
Um, but the restoration,
it feels like was done in a quick manner
because it might've been a major street.
But now the, the restoration really wasn't
complete to the level it should have.
So we're getting neighbors time
and time again talking about cars running over
and the noise it's all making.
So it's less about the actual work being done
and more about whoever had to do the restoration in,
in instances where that may occur, right?
A restoration is not done, completed.
There's, there's some follow up needed.
How do you all track that to hold contractors
accountable to get that done?
Um, absolutely. So that was one of the things that we,
we did that I idea when I, when I came back,
we created a division of restoration.
Um, and Deputy Commissioner William Te Beatty is in charge
of that and he oversees the contractor as well as the,
in the in house forces to ensure
that they're following the rules and rigs for cdot.
Um, and depending on what that restoration is
or depending on what that emergency was, we'll dictate how
that restoration gets done.
Obviously, if it's in the middle of foster,
we always wanna try to get the major arteries open
as quickly as possible.
Yeah. Whether that means that we do the work
and we pour it immediately
and that restoration may be a little rough, um, just
because we want to get the street back open.
Yeah. Right. But that doesn't mean that we, it's done.
Right. So if you, if if you can get us that address,
we can definitely look, take
a look at it and see what it is.
Yeah. And, and, and, and at exactly that point,
I definitely understood the case
that when you're talking a major street, there's
that tension of we're doing the restoration,
we know everyone's looking at us
'cause they're trying to keep things moving.
And so I, I think exactly that point sometimes in trying
to get that done, uh, what then becomes a consequence
after is something we hear from the, at the ward office.
So, yeah. We'll, absolutely. We'll, we've already kind
of been in conversation, so that's moving.
Perfect. I just want to get a better sense of overall how
that tracking looks like when stuff like that occurs.
Yep. If, if, for example, there's a contractor who,
there seems to be repetitive instances of things like that,
if that's something to take up with them, that kind
of tracking is more the question.
Yeah. So we take a look at that again.
William Edie is the, the guy that handles that.
We take a look at, um, all of our contractors
and as well as our in-house forces,
we hold them to the same standard.
Right. And that's what we're working toward.
Um, and if there's an instance where we have a a,
a repeat offender as we like to call them, then we do have,
uh, what contractual ways of,
of bringing them back into compliance.
And we do start, we do exercise those, comp them, those, uh,
contractual compliance ways. Okay.
Thank, thank you so much for that. Um, okay.
Lastly, we know storms are getting worse.
The floods are getting wilder in 40th ward,
we got Ravenswood where all the viaducts are there.
So you've got this like double problem
where the viaducts seem to have a little bit more
of a lower grade to account
for the fact there's a bridge over it.
Um, thankfully we haven't had it for a number of years
where the floods were like, you, you have all
of the news cameras coming into focus.
And so just wanna know if there's
any work being done proactively in situations
where the grade might be lower,
where you're seeing more of that flooding.
Um, what else can be done or what we could do to help.
Um, so we partner with, uh, MWRD on a lot, on a lot
of our, uh, flooding.
Um, because they're the ones
who actually take our rainwater,
our rainwater, and our wastewater.
And they process it. So we partner
with them on different things.
So for instance, we have a pilot that's coming out, uh,
it's a, uh, it's called Wing Storage.
And basically what it does is it provides stor underground
storage off of the, uh, the sewer system itself.
So when the sewer system fills up, it fill,
it goes into the wing storage
and the wing storage dissipates it out
through the, through the ground.
So there's things like that, um,
and they're actually partnering with, with us
and splitting the cost with us.
So we're hoping that as these different, uh,
pilots come about and we see what works
and what doesn't work, we the ones that work,
we're gonna make them try to put 'em
where we can, where we can put them.
And the things that don't work, we just can't use them.
We're looking at more above ground storage as far as, uh,
rain gardens, things of that nature.
Yep. Just to try to understand how to, how
to capture a lot of this water. Yeah.
If, if there's, uh, things like pilots
that y'all wanna partner on, I know we've been doing like,
um, parkway pollinator gardens, right.
In a way that could absorb more water
or like trying to figure out where to do bioswells.
Like anything like that. Yes.
We'd love to find opportunities.
'cause this appears to everyone here
to be going in one direction as it pertains to our climate.
So the more we're able to be proactive
or find other opportunities, like we'd be happy to partner.
So thank you for all the tough work you all do.
It is very challenging.
I'm sure you get calls from all
of us, but you guys do a great job.
So thank you so much. Thank you, chairman.
Thank you Chair Vasquez.
Uh, just to pick up on a couple things
that you were, um, just talking about.
Can we get through the chair Commissioner, um, the number
of test kits that were requested
and how many, uh, return samples by Ward?
Um, I, and I'll, I'll, I'll go, um,
echo chair Vasquez's call
for just more communication with the wards.
I'd love to be able to also help follow up, um, uh,
especially when, um, you know, I'm curious as to
what the language accessibility is.
Um, how many different languages are materials available?
And obviously I've got a,
a large non non-native English speaking
population in my ward.
Um, so anything that we can do to help get some of
that stuff translated, um, uh, I'd love to be able
to just get the word out and, uh, make sure people know
what resources are available
and if they have concerns about their water,
that there's a way to do that.
Absolutely. So we've actually taken a look at that.
And, um, if I'm not mistaken, the,
when the test kit goes out, it's in three
or four different languages.
And if we need to expand that more, we can.
Yeah, if you can just confirm for us the languages
that they're currently available in,
uh, through the chair, that'd be fine.
Absolutely. Thank you. Uh, chair Taylor.
Thank you, chairwoman. Hey, Randy.
Good morning. How you doing? I'm good. How are you?
You came back. I, I keep asking you why did you go back?
But I guess, um, can you, I,
I'm not sure if you all will have it,
but through the chair, um, water cutoffs
for everybody in our wards.
Um, I want to see a award by Ward
because you touched on it earlier, we're owe
by other municipalities, $60 million.
I'm sure the folks in our community
probably owe less than 2000 and their water is shut off.
And I'm gonna always bring that up 'cause I struggle
and I'm so tired of hearing These are municipalities
who don't really have money.
They collect taxes. Yes, they do.
So you got folks that live in my ward whose water is off
for less than 2000, but these folks owe us 60 million.
And so the mad thing math.
And so I would like to see Ward by Ward, all of the folks
who have water cut off.
Can you talk about what are we doing to help those folks?
And not, I know the thing with vacant properties,
but I'm talking about properties
where people actually live in the water is cutoff.
Um, so I would have to really dive into that.
But, but at a really high level, um, we're working
with the Department of Finance and Law to try to figure out,
um, uh, how to make these things work.
Um, 'cause we always say, yes, everybody needs water,
but we also have make the statement that, you know, um,
there's a cost to delivering water.
And I always say that if you want water, you can always go
to the lake with a bucket and get it.
So you're not paying for the water, per se.
What you're paying for is the delivery
and the purification of the water.
Um, it from, if my, my mind, if I can recall correctly,
we haven't done any shutoffs, um, since Covid, if they were,
they were for sanitary issues
or, you know, things of that nature.
Um, but I can definitely get you that through the chair.
Thank you. Um,
you talked about earlier grants through the chair.
Can you give us all the grants
that the water department gets to kinda
facilitate our water?
I also have a question around how will you all create
creating new folks to work in the water department?
So is there something with CPS
or is there a program at City Colleges?
Because a lot of times I feel like we hire outside
of Chicago 'cause we're not developing our
own. So can you talk about it?
Absolutely. So one thing I will say is that the program
that Streets of Sand had with, with hiring, uh,
the high school students, um, that were coming out
of high school, I think that's a great program
and we're looking to work with, uh, CPS city colleges, uh,
to try to mirror that program.
Um, the, the issue that we have is
because of our trades, they're all licensed trades
and it's not an issue, is we just have to be able
to work out whatever the details are, try to figure out
how do we get them into a program so that they,
they can at least get licensed
and they can get, you know, get through the program, um,
and then figure out how to get them
hired through the city of Chicago.
But that's a DHR question, how all that side works Mm-Hmm.
But we can definitely talk about how we can partner with,
you know, the unions and, uh, CPS and city colleges on that.
Yeah. I would be interested in having
that conversation with you.
Um, how much, how can you tell me the percentage of
contracted work that you all contract out?
I, I, I, If you can get it through the chair, fine.
I can get through the chair. Okay. Because I,
I feel like a lot of times when I see water
projects being done, these folks are not from Chicago.
They're, they're, they're not city workers.
Right. So a lot of our projects, um,
this year were done by in-House forces.
Um, if you saw any
of the contractors out there working on water main
or working on sewer, they was part
of our ancillary projects, which means that it's work
that we cannot do in house that a contractor has to do
because they're the only ones that
have the capability to do it.
We don't have the equipment. Um, so they get in there
and do their work first, and then we come behind them to,
to complete whatever project is
Are you all still going to schools
and bringing students down to the water department
so they can see how the, the kind of water system works?
Um, absolutely. If there's a tour
that we can accommodate, we absolutely will.
Uh, my last question was around vacancies.
How many vacancies is this? It says 43%, is that correct?
Is that, so
We have a number of,
we have 372 vacancies Okay. In the department.
And how long have you had those vacancies?
Um, so we carry right around
that number every year because of attrition.
But we usually fill anywhere about right around 200, uh,
vacancies every year.
Is there something we could do
to help you fill those vacancies?
Um, uh, it's a matter of getting things through, you know,
the hiring process and getting and recruiting more people.
That's all I got. Thank you. Randy. Future Taylor?
Uh, chairman Mitts.
Thank you. Good morning, commissioner.
Good morning. How are you?
Good. How are you? Good.
You know, I don't have one thing on my mind
and I want to keep it on the city's mind.
And that's the flood that we experienced two years ago.
I think that sometime we may feel like
we have everything but
for the residents in my ward, I hear it every day.
And, um, for your department, what are you looking
to do to help alle alleviate the floods
that are occurring?
And I think you may have some ideas this coming.
Um, absolutely. So, um, looking back at the flood of 2023,
I wasn't here for that one.
Right. But for 2024, you had a, the exact same issue, uh,
right around the exact same time.
In, in 2023, you had about 7,000 calls
for standing water complaints
or flooding basements,
whatever, anything that was flood related.
Um, as you know, we came in,
into your ward into a few more awards on the west side.
And we did about $1.6 million worth of work,
whether it was cleaning the main sewer,
doing some sewer lining, doing some catch basing lining, um,
just to see, you know, just to try
to alleviate a lot of those issues.
And what we found out is that, uh, for in, again, in 2023,
there was about 7,000 calls.
And 2024, there are only about 700 mm-Hmm.
So we know that it's working.
Um, so we're looking to put together some systematic
cleaning programs and some systematic upgrades and,
and the wars depending on where they are citywide.
So we can understand, you know,
so we can alleviate some of this flooding.
We're looking to go into reinstalling our, um,
our restrictors in the catch basins, which will help.
Um, as you know, when we change out a lot
of our catch basins, we put in the, what, what I,
what we call like the more low flow lids
to hold water in the street a little bit longer.
How long, how often do you maintenance those?
Uh, restrictors.
Um, so that's what we're looking at now
to put together a program to be able to do just that,
Because they haven't,
we haven't had one since they were installed.
Um, I don't recall us
having one, so that's why we're looking
At it 10 years ago. Yes. Yeah.
So, um, that, and we're just looking at again,
so some green infrastructure, whether it's, uh, bioswells,
whether it's aboveground storage,
we're looking at some underground storage options
that we can, uh, that we can work with
and we'll, like I said, working with MWRD
and partner with them so that they understand
what we're doing and
understand what, what it's gonna look like.
That's what I was gonna ask you about WRD.
Um, and if you are working along with them with some
of the grants, I always see grants come in with, uh, working
with them, but they go to the suburban areas.
So how do, how can we get in on those grants
to get some real work done, um,
and working together with the, that department?
Um, so the, the, the wing storage that I was,
that I was talking about, um, it's a pilot
and it's about, uh, $15 million mm-Hmm.
Worth of work. And MWRD is going to go, is going
to go half with us on it.
Okay. Uh, so we once,
and they're, they're, we've, we're in the process
of putting together, together, um,
in a governmental intergovernmental agreement.
Then we'll talk about how we partner
and that they will split the cost
and the maintenance of these different, um,
items that we'll be installing. So they're great
Questions. What are we doing along
with the, the state?
The state should have some skin in the game here to help us.
You know, the, the area has been what is a down zone.
Our area is more like uninsurable
because of all recent flooding.
And, um, I'm thinking that if we can, uh,
work with the state as well to see what they can do
to help assist, and I did go
and talk to him, you know, um, think was it last year
and we went to Springfield.
I got some data from you Yes. And taking it down.
We don't need to let that fall on deaf ear.
I didn't make that trip for nothing.
Absolutely. So one of the things that, um, this year,
in the year of 2024, we didn't get any money from the state
of Illinois for store.
Um, and it's because they're concentrating more toward, uh,
cities who have treatment plants.
And we do not have treatment.
We water, Chicago does not have a treatment plant.
So all we do is purify the water and distributor.
So they're giving more money to, uh, municipalities
that actually treat storm water and, uh, and wastewater.
Oh, okay. Well, I just don't want that to, um,
be forgotten and whatever we can do to continue to help,
I don't wanna see peoples losing their homes
and living with mold
and all that stuff in their, in their house.
And I know if we keep trying, we can get somewhere.
I mean, there was, um, a question went with the lead water.
Um, when do you expect to roll that out?
Um, I know you're looking to take over the streets
and sanitation war yard Yes, ma'am.
Um, to start the program.
Yes, ma'am. And who, who is the outreach team that, uh,
help us to organize?
I know if we're gonna install these, uh, lead pipes
that we need to coordinate block by block Absolutely.
To kinda make it where we're not going back and forth, back
and forth and getting it done.
But who is it that's on your team that do the outreach work
or help to assist in that?
Um, that would be Angel Hawthorne,
our director of public affairs.
Well, angel. Angel. Yeah. I can't see what you look like.
All right. I wanna see your face, angel. Very good.
All right. I look to work along with you
and, uh, so we can, uh, make sure
that we are utilizing your service while you are there
and trying to help to assist to get this work done
as soon as possible.
Absolutely. And, um, in a way where we collaborate
and everyone know what's going on.
But thank you for coming out to, uh, the community meeting.
Uh, that was a big help to get that conversation started.
Absolutely. Um, and I really appreciate you,
the community appreciate it.
They look for other leaders to come out as well.
Uh, when we do, when we work better together, we do better.
Absolutely. So, um, I wanted
to ask you about some maybe have been asked already about
contracts and where are we at
to date in terms of the number of contracts
your department have?
Um, so as far as total spend for this year, um,
of all purchases, we spent about $155 million.
And of that, um,
through, that's, that's through July.
I'm sorry. Thank you. Um, how about $155 million Of
that 33% went to, um, MBE
and WBE firms about $52 million.
Can you break that down? Absolutely.
So again,
all purchases were about $155 million.
Mm-Hmm. WBE firms were 11.5 million.
Uh, black MBE firms was 7.1 million.
Asian MBE firms was 11.5 million.
And Hispanic MBE firms was 22.2 million.
And again, that's through July of, uh, of this year.
Okay. Now, who are, who is the, who is on, I believe,
um, Derman Taylor might have asked for your list already,
of the firms that you have the entire list,
The entire of the, um, MBWE firms.
Yes. Um, we can get you that through the chair.
Okay. Actually, can I add to
that through the chair request?
Um, can we get a list then of all the contracts
that were awarded this year by contractor indicating the M
and WBE status, the amount awarded,
and then a brief description of the work
Mm-Hmm. That
work? That works. Okay, cool. Thank you.
That that'll work. How many contracts been led
for the lead service line?
So right now there are,
There's one, so I, I'm gonna kind of have
to get break it down to you like this.
So, um, the equity led service line replacement, it's, it's,
it's advertised on the daycare led service line replacement.
It's, it's in the process of being awarded.
Um, then you have our, uh,
SBI, um, contracts that are with DPS right now.
There are SBI twos. There are one, there are five of those.
Those are the block level projects.
And then we have, I'm sorry, I,
I apo then we have 1, 2, 6, 7, 12 block level projects
that also, that are with DPS that are,
that are, uh, lead service line based.
So that's 12 projects, 12 contracts.
Uh, and there, then on the s sb, again,
on the s on the SBI contracts, we have
looks like eight, nine, I'm sorry. Um,
So it's not five?
No, it's, no, it's, it's, it's five
that are actually in, in award process, three
that are advertised and one that's with, um,
I'm sorry, I apologize.
It's five that are actually, uh, in, in award process
for in, um, I'm sorry, you said, I
Don't mean to contract.
I'm sorry, commissioner, you can get it together.
Take a moment. Because you confused me.
I'm confusing the contracts.
It's about, it's a whole bunch of them here. Okay.
Well, you only want the lead service line, correct? Right.
Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize.
I was giving you all of them. But is
Your question who the contractors are
or the number of contracts that are awarded?
'cause I think there's a
distinct difference between the two.
The number of contracts,
Number of contracts that have been awarded
right now is only one.
And the rest of 'em, the rest are in process.
Okay. All right. Very good.
Alright, thank you. Uh, commissioner, I wanna thank you
for, uh, taking the calls.
You, you always on point.
Um, and I appreciate the work that you are doing.
Glad to see you back, um,
because I know that we can count on getting the
service provided to us.
So thank you and your team for, um, the work
that you do each and every day for the residents of the city
and the 37 ward.
Absolutely. Thank you.
Chairman's, Al Alderman, sec Lopez.
Thank you. Uh, thank you vice chair
and, uh, thank you commissioner
for, for the work that you do.
Um, is, um, certainly, um, good
that we talk about the, the changes that you,
we make in an know your statement.
Um, uh, several important changes.
And I know that you have a, a, a, a big task, especially
with the, um, lead line replacement,
the lead service replacement.
Um, so maybe let me start with that one, like the,
the bigger question and then some of the, uh, other things
that you do already mentioned here, but just more details.
Um, I know that, um, there was, uh, projections
or maybe some federal support, you know, to, to add
to the work that is being underway.
My concern is like, you know, what,
what will be happening in terms of, um,
potential changes in the federal level?
How do you see these impacting the work locally?
The progress I think that you, that you made
and, um, at least for the next, um,
or at least for these, these, uh, next few years,
how do you envision, you know, how we can quickly catch up
to these, uh, le pipe replacement?
I tell you, talk to some of the, my constituents
that have already made requests, the still waiting.
And we like to, at the very minimum, be able
to prioritize based on need areas, you know,
where there may be significant needs.
So I'm curious to hear, you know,
and I appreciate, again, I know that you,
you're doing everything you can to, to help on this issue.
Um, as far as, uh, any change that may have come down,
because from the federal level, um, until they come down,
I can't concern myself with that.
I have to keep pushing forward to try
to get done all the work that we can get done.
And even once the changes come down, we still have
to continue to push forward to try to get the work done.
Um, and as you know, it's, it's an unfunded mandate Mm-Hmm.
And what we're looking at is just trying to figure out, um,
how do we set ourselves up for, for success and not failure
and have, and, and, and set expectations as these,
as the lead service line program goes into full effect.
Um, again, it's about 400,000 lead service
lines that we have to replace.
Um, and they're given on the, the,
the federal government's only given us 10 years to do it.
But again, we can apply for an extension for that for up
to 20 years, which will give us about 19,000 per year.
Um, it's, we're doing everything we can to figure out
how we can get these all installed, whether it's
through a block level, whether it's through us, uh,
a water main project or a sewer main
project, whatever that looks like.
But it's all, it's all gonna be funding driven.
Um, with the funding that we have,
it can only be used on the public side.
Mm-Hmm. Right. So we have to figure out what are we gonna do
to keep, to maintain the private side, to, to be able
to change out these, uh, the lead service lines.
Um, and then, and as we get funding, we work with, uh,
the CFO and, um,
and all of our partners to figure out what
that private side funding looks like,
because that's kind of what drives our process.
Right now, we have x amount of dollars that are available
for the, for the private side.
So that's what we have to work toward.
If we have enough to do, for example, uh,
50,000 in the public way, um,
and we have enough to do 15,000,
which includes the private side,
that's the number we have to work toward.
Mm-Hmm. Right. Because we're mandated that we have
to change out the entire service line.
Thank you. Has there been any changes in terms of,
because I know that is, is funded, driven,
uh, at the state level.
Has there been, um,
or do you see pot potential opportunities in terms of like,
finding this funding?
And maybe how will that account maybe,
is there a particular goal that you have for next year, um,
in terms of completing some of these, um,
line replacement lines? Um,
Absolutely. So we are in
constant communication with, uh, with IEPA
regarding their funding
and as well as some of the legislators we've met with them,
um, just to kind of talk about what our needs are.
Um, and we're looking to be able to increase our funding.
Um, we've partnered with IEPA
and they've kind of showed us what their, uh, what they look
for in their, in their, in their applications.
And we were able to get the, uh, $14 million toward the, uh,
lead service line replacement.
And, and as time goes on,
we'll keep applying in the same manner for that same amount,
for that same through that go through that same process,
hoping to keep getting the 14 million as well as try
to increase that money as well.
Thank you, commissioner. I'll definitely love to keep, uh,
in touch in terms of how we can make more progress,
you know, addressing issues also on lead, uh,
lead pipes in schools and other critical infrastructure.
Uh, so definitely I think these local
partnerships will be critical.
Um, let me shift that now from infrastructure a little bit.
I know your testimony you mentioned about mandating
diversity trainings in the department.
I welcome that, uh, given some, some of, um, um,
some of the issues in the past.
Um, I, I, I wanna know in terms of like,
and it can be through the chair if you don't have it,
what are the, what are the current demographics
that you have in the department?
Um, and then in terms of, uh, that can be breaking down by,
um, uh, management positions as well.
I mean, that whatever you have available now,
whatever can be done through the chair, wanna make sure
that it reflects the diversity, promotions
and all that, uh, making sure that it seems like, you know,
you're determined to make changes.
So I wanted, just wanted to to, to get at
that specific number if you have.
Um, absolutely. So, um, so first of all, I wanna say
that our department is 90%, 96% union, 4% non-union.
And as far as the breakdown in, in race, it's white,
41% black, 35% Hispanic,
21% Asian 2% multiple races, 1%,
uh, 0% on Native Americans, 0% of Pacific Islander.
And then we have 1% where there's no data. Mm-Hmm.
Thank you, commissioner and I,
and again, I appreciate, you know, I think it's important
that in inner city, you know, the,
the culture within the requirements are, uh,
reflect the diversity and also the values of our, our city.
You know, we are third, a third and a third.
And I do think that, um, um,
that should be reflecting all premise.
I think that, that you're making good progress on that,
and hopefully we can making, um, uh,
strides in that direction.
Uh, and I think under your leadership, I'm confident
that we will, especially when it comes
to promotions in each, in each of those demographics.
Um, in terms of, uh, if you, if you, if you might, um,
I think that it is being an,
I think you mentioned also in testimony, um, we operate
through the, the, the world's largest, um,
conventional purification plans.
And one thing that we talk about now, the budget, I know
that a lot of people are experiencing high, you know,
uh, water bills.
Uh, I think that some of it probably driven by demand.
Uh, also, you know, we heard from the CFO and, um,
and the comptroller is about debt that we still yet
to collect from other municipalities
where we actually, um, selling water.
Um, so one, how we can maintain the affordability,
especially for people in the city of Chicago,
and how we can make sure that we, we get some
of the funding back, right?
If we are, um, other municipalities in,
in throughout the county are benefited by that,
how can we make sure that we ensure affordability
and we collect some of those debts that I think
that were mentioned by the CFO and the controller.
Um, thank you for that question, alderman.
So of all of the, our customers, the, our,
our direct connect customers, um, for the most part,
they're paying on time within 30 days or within 60 days.
Uh, we do have the four, um, suburbs
that are not paying on time, and we're working with the CFO
and the, uh, and the law department on making sure
that they are, have, um, uh, a way to pay that back that's,
that they can afford to set up a payment plan.
Um, again, like I said before,
I can't really comment on those
because they're in, in litigation,
but we do work with them on trying to make sure
that they have a, a, a payment schedule that they,
that they can, uh, that they can maintain. Mm-Hmm.
Thank you, commissioner. I think, uh, um, I think one
of the greatest challenges
for municipalities in the future will be,
um, access to water.
And, um, and I do think the, uh, management and, and, uh,
and the processes that we have in place today will make a
huge difference in the future.
Um, I think for us, of course, representing Chicagoans, um,
one of the things that I've talked to the controller
and the CFO, uh, is this water debt sometimes,
especially when affects seniors, low income families.
I think I, I, I, uh, I think access
to water is a human right.
And I wanna make sure that, uh,
we don't have shutoffs right, in terms of,
as we've seen in past in the city, uh,
especially affecting low income, uh, Chicagoans and seniors.
Um, one of the things I would like to ask you,
and I think I asked the comptroller,
is the sensitivity towards addressing and,
and working towards, um, debt relief programs to seniors,
low income families, Chicagoans, uh, that need our help.
You know, I do think that, um, there are entities
and corporations that can perhaps pay,
uh, pay their first share.
So my, um, do you have any maybe suggestions in terms of
what, as a council, we can Look,
I am really interested in looking
for relief programs to seniors.
I, I mean, I tell, it breaks my heart when I have seniors in
a, an award coming in, uh,
with high water bills and low income families.
They're trying to do the right thing. They pay taxes.
I think they need some relief.
So any ideas on how we can make that a more equitable
for seniors and low income families?
Um, I think that it's a,
it's gonna be an ongoing conversation.
I don't think there's a silver bullet that's going
to take care of everything.
I think that you're gonna have to make, uh,
whatever decisions, whatever ideas would come, have
to be applicable to whatever that class is.
Um, and I think that those are the,
having those conversations with the CFO, the comptroller
and making sure that, uh, as well as the Department
of Water Manager, making sure that whatever policies
that are put in place, that it's going to be main
maintainable and sustainable for years to come.
Um, 'cause the, the reality is
that it's nothing's getting cheaper.
Um, the cost of living is going up, the cost of purifying
and distributing water, it continues to go up just
because of the way that we treat water, just
because of the chemicals that we put in the water,
because of, you know, because of wages.
So that's never going to stop.
But I think that at the city of Chicago does a really,
really good job of maintaining what the water rates
that we have saying that we're probably the second
or probably the second lowest in the country as far
as water rates are.
So I think that, you know, those are ongoing conversations
to make sure that we try to maintain that status.
And I think there's something that,
that's, that's attainable.
Thank you, commissioner. Thank you, Richard.
Thank you. Alderman. Scho Lopez, uh, we're gonna go
to Alderman Lenny Menina Hop.
Thank
You, chair. Hi, commissioner
Chairwoman. How are you? Auman?
Good, thank you. Uh, I wanted to shout out
to your team in the box,
and also those who are not necessarily here, including, uh,
John Gallagher, Greg
and Joe, who do so much for the 48th Ward.
I wanted to ask you about, um, in your comments,
firstly, thank you for coming back to Serve.
Um, I was glad to see in your comments
that you talked about, um, the importance of diversity,
equity, and inclusion
and, um, your mandated, uh,
training when you were here first,
and then, um, what you're doing now.
And I'm, I'm curious also, um, along the lines of
what Chair Taylor was saying,
how you're bringing in more people,
but once you get people on the force, I'm curious to know,
do you, do you, um, also survey your workforce
to see, um, who self-identifies as, um,
LGBTQ plus or speaking a different language
or, um, somebody who is disabled?
Is that something you do?
Um, no. So from a a departmental standpoint, we do not.
But those are things that DHR kind of keeps up with
so they can, they tell us who the well they have,
they keep record of who of all those people.
Yeah. That's, I think it's in interesting
and important to know, especially around language access,
you know, um, in terms of emergencies, um,
especially when we have
to go onto somebody's private property.
Um, and also, um, just in terms
of diversifying your workforce, um, I'm, I'm very curious
to know if, um, you do have somebody in your workforce
that has identified as, uh, somebody with a, a disability,
because I think that's something that the city
of Chicago can lead on, um, that we are,
we welcome everyone.
Absolutely. Um, I had a question about, um,
the budget and staffing adjustments.
Um, and it notes a net increase of 10 positions, um,
with labor positions increasing by eight, administration,
administration, administrative assistance by six,
while civil engineer positions have decreased by eight.
And I would like to know
how the staffing changes impact the department's capacity
to manage all your projects, um, including coordination
that you have to do with other departments.
I, I did, um, visit OEMC and,
and I know that there's a lot of coordination that happens
between agencies.
So, um, can you just speak on your changes in your staffing
and how that impacts your work?
Um, absolutely. So those changes are areas
where we've just kind of moved some people around, into,
into budgeted positions.
Um, so we are always looking at how to staff
and always looking at how to, uh,
put people in their right places
to make sure that the budget makes sense.
So a lot of those changes are, uh, again,
people being put in their, in their,
in their right divisions
or their, the places
where they actually work within the budget.
Uh, so that's what tho a lot of those changes are.
And some of, and we didn't actually decrease any
as far our overall personnel.
Um, again, we carry about, uh, we have about,
we have 372 vacancies right now.
We, and we usually fill about 200 of those per year.
And that 372 is about where we hover just through, um,
attrition, whether it's through retirement
or people being, uh, fired or whatever the case may be.
Um, so it's, we make it work.
We, we make sure we make the adjustments,
but we're also trying to always hire to make sure
that we can decrease our overtime
and make sure that, um, the people are getting the,
the, the correct hours.
Thank you. And I'm also very interested in your workforce
allocation study, um, how that's going.
So if you can please keep me in the loop on that.
Absolutely. I also wanted to mention
that the 48th ward,
Edgewater uptown was also hit by flooding.
And so, um, any kind of pilot that you are doing,
we would love to be considered for that.
Um, you know, a whole basement's, um, memories,
you know, everything gone.
Uh, and people are still also taking care
of molt in their places.
So, um, uh, and,
and also I wanted to thank your office for your help
with MWRD to help us educate people on what we're doing.
But we would like to be considered for any kind of, um,
is it called Wing Wing storage?
Wing Storage Wing storage, yes. Wing storage.
Um, I wanted to say that, um, on, uh,
there was a, an article in the Chicago Reader July 3rd.
And, um, it says, well, it,
it, it says that it's, um, one person said that
y'all basically stop short of asking
for a DNA sample in terms of your equity program.
So I would, I would like
to know a little bit more about that.
It does not need to be here,
but how is it that we can make it easier for people
to apply for that program?
Um, and also I wanted to point out that, um, the website,
the Lead Safe chicago.org equity led service line
replacement program is saying
that the applications are closed
because of budgetary problems.
Can you just take a look at that when you get a chance?
Absolutely. Um, that's all I have for now.
Thank you so much. Thank you for your work. Thank
You. Wo
Uh, thank you very much.
Alderman Howorth, uh, alderman Mosley, followed
by Alderman Coleman.
Thank you so much, vice chair
and good morning commissioner and team.
Good morning. Uh, I am still thankful as alderman OSHA is
for the work, uh, the Roseland Pumping station,
and how even though the 21st Ward, uh, wasn't the,
the most impacted ward,
but we still, uh, had resources available to all wards
that were impacted, uh, no matter what level and degree.
So thank you all for that.
Thank you for the, uh, the water main replacement meeting
that we had, uh, ADA Park and the work two ADA Park,
and even you all coming out to our town hall meetings.
Uh, I want to jump right in
and, uh, ask about those water main replacements
and, uh, lead service lines.
Is there a way that we can work together, uh,
from an automatic perspective, whether
that's using our menu money, uh, and
or other funding sources, uh, to expand that work?
Um, for instance, as we are resurfacing streets,
is there a way to partner with your department, uh,
to hit some of those water lead, um,
the layer service replacement lines?
Um, absolutely. So, um, it's, I,
I say this all the time when I meet with people
that we are turning over every couch cushion looking
for every quarter to be able to fund this program.
Um, and if you, uh, have the ability
to provide us additional funding,
we are definitely not going to say no.
Um, and we can work with you especially to figure out how
that funding would correlate with some of the other work
that we're doing, uh, as far as, uh, water main
and sewer main within the award.
'cause as you know, with the Waterman Suman,
you will think we do the, do the, the full replacement.
Um, but again, it's, you know, if we can figure out how to
add a funding for the private side, which is the,
which is the biggest funding headache
right now, that would be great.
Yeah, I would love to work on that.
I know, uh, particularly in my ward where there's
so many streets that need to be, uh, resurfaced, um,
there's, when we're looking at it in, in the conflicts,
and I know you have been working with CDOT to, uh, say like,
Hey, go ahead and do that street.
But, you know, we wanna make sure that, uh, when we hit
that street, we're able to get at least those
10 years out of them.
Um, when we talk about flooding,
what are some things that we can do
to prevent water in the basement, uh,
that residents may not know about?
And then I'll also ask, uh,
this came up when we were talking to Streets of Sanitation
about how trees are on a grid system now.
Do you all already, or is there a thought idea about, um,
putting sewer inspections
and cleanings on a grid system so that it's something
that's maintained, uh, better as opposed
to just being relied more so on residents?
Um, so thank you for that question.
Uh, so we are actually looking at a lot of different things.
Um, one of the things that we, that your,
that your residents can do, uh, to keep less water out
of the, the sewer system is, uh,
this downspout disconnection.
So if they disconnect that downspout
and let it go into a grass area, that's great.
Um, you would be amazed at the amount of water
that you get off of a roof, um, into the sewer system.
Um, so we just ask the people to, to disconnect those.
We always tell people that, you know, if it's, so, if it's,
if it's raining, um, we tell people
that if the water is standing on the street,
that's a good thing, right?
Because it's not in your basement.
Um, but if it's there longer than 24 hours, then we need
to take a look and see what's going on with that catch basin
to see what's, this needs to be cleaned
or the restrict is dirty.
Um, I think that, uh, people just have
to be a little bit more conscious of, of, uh,
of just how they call.
Like, so if people are called regarding water on the street,
um, they're looking at it from a,
where the water's been sitting there for 20 minutes.
'cause they don't wanna be inconvenience
when they get out their car.
Whereas we're looking at it from a, a,
a holistic perspective with the entire city to figure out
how do we alleviate those, right?
And a lot of those we won't alleviate right away.
We're looking at more water
and basements as first right, to try to alleviate those.
Um, I think that, uh, by going
to a systematic cleaning system, that's something
that we're definitely looking at and partnering with Streets
and Sand, the biggest issue is
that are the cars parked on the block?
So if we can find a way that we can coordinate that
with streets and sand, with their street sweeping,
and we can get in there to clean the,
to clean the basements, the basements,
wherever the case may be, that's, that's always a plus.
I love that. And just taking, uh, uh, notes on that
and, you know, I heard the term earlier,
Parkway Pollinator Gardens.
Is that something that could even maybe get to the point of
what residents want, which is less water on the street,
that inconvenience, if we have things of
that nature, uh, built out,
Um, absolutely any green infrastructure that's,
that can be maintained.
So let me take a step back.
The problem that we've incurred,
that we've encountered is when we start talking about green
infrastructure, you have to talk about
what comes along with that.
It's a great idea. Everybody thinks it's beautiful
until a year later when you have to maintain it, yes,
until you have to clean it.
So we can put in all of this infrastructure,
but if there isn't a way for us to maintain it
and clean it so that it is working, you know, at at,
at its optimal capacity, then it doesn't make sense for us
to do it right.
So we have to figure out how do we educate, uh, the citizens
of Chicago to say, Hey, you want this,
but this is what you need to do to be able to maintain it.
This is on your block. This is going to help your block.
This is how you should maintain it.
You know, whatever the case may be.
And we can, and those are
conversations that we continually have.
We know that the bill situation is really the Department
of Finance, but can you tell me more about, uh,
whether it's communication to that department
or communication to the residents themselves about, uh,
potential leaks that happen that result in residents getting
a much higher bill than they expected?
So, um, with the metering system itself, um, we have had,
um, instance where we have not been able to get true reads
or get reads at all.
One because of the, um, the batteries on them are starting
to go out the battery's lifespan for them about 20 years.
We're right about 17 year, 18 year on those batteries.
So we're looking at going, going forward to replace, uh,
the, those systems that go to a, uh, go to an a MI system.
Right now, we're looking at
that system's gonna cost us about $500 million to replace,
uh, all of the meters and continue to replacing meters.
Um, but I think that, uh, when those, what happens is
that once we we're not able to get those readings,
the Department of Finance gets that, gets that data,
and then if that's communicated to,
it should be communicated to, uh, the residents.
And if it's not, then we get those calls, then we have
that relationship with the Department of Finance to be able
to make the phone call and just kinda walk
through whatever the issues are with the billing.
Yeah. Got it. No, I'm very thankful.
Your, your team is always responsive, particularly, uh,
when it is that water that's standing on the street, uh,
whether it's a a, a residence home or, or a local business.
Uh, the 21st Ward office, wanted to shout out some folks.
Of course, angel, a Donna, Lisa, Daniel, Matthew, William,
uh, thank you all so much for how you help in service
to make the 21st ward better.
Absolutely, alderman. Thank you.
Alderman Moseley, uh, Alderwoman Coleman. Thank you.
Vice Chair, commissioner Alpha, Randy, um,
Alderwoman Taylor asked about the job opportunities.
Can you walk me through the career opportunities
for the Waterline replacement
and what that actually looks like in Neighbor for all of us?
Um, this 15 to 20 year, I always hear, uh, chairman Irvin,
you know, this is kind of a, a lifetime opportunity,
but what does that, walk me through what that looks like.
Um, absolutely. So from,
there's two aspects to look at it.
Um, from a contractor side, um, you have
a plumber, you have a, an operator, you have laborers.
Um, you may have a couple of more different trays
that are in there, but those are your three major, uh,
uh, trades that are there.
Um, on the, uh, on the, uh, the,
on the city side is pretty much the same ones.
Um, the only difference is
that the contractor has the ability to hire instantly
and be able to ramp up, ramp down
where the city of Chicago doesn't.
We have, you know, we have the hiring process
that we have to go through.
I think that by taking a look at, uh, working
with the contractors and working with city colleges, things
of that nature, we have a great opportunity over the next
couple of decades to be able to provide, uh, jobs
for a lot of people.
Uh, we just have to be able to communicate that
and get them to understand that these are great paying jobs,
and that once they have these jobs,
plumbing is never going away.
Laboring is never going away.
One 50 operators are never going away.
Uh, teamsters are never going away.
The driver, you know, those things are never going away.
So once you're able to acquire that skill
and acquire the ability to hold that job,
you have the ability to move around,
whether it's in the private sector,
whether it's in government.
Great. I know, uh,
commissioner Dawson Tech in the third ward is
what we consider as the construction school.
Um, I like to work with your department as well
as other colleagues interested in really having real
conversations about, um, for example,
the health program has expanded not only at Malcolm X,
but also the Kennedy King.
Absolutely. Uh, commissioner Staller was here yesterday
and he announced that, uh, they'd like to plant new trees.
I like to know your personal opinion.
Um, trees, I'm finding, especially for a lot
of our seniors are disrupting their water,
um, their basement.
Sometimes it's cracking the actual sidewalks,
and I'm finding more
and more at the, as these trees have aged 60
and 70 years later, that it is caused the problem.
Can you tell me just your personal opinion about trees?
Um, so as I take off my water hat
and put on my streets as sand hat, um, what I,
what I have learned over the years is that the trees
that were planted in the city of Chicago were not,
were not urban trees.
They were not meant to be, to be in, in urban environments.
Mm-Hmm. As you think about
how the city has developed over the past a hundred years,
150 years, it was a lot of open space, right?
And no one probably could, you know, fathom the fact
that the city would look the way that it does right now.
So what I can appreciate about CDO as well as treat
and sand, is that they're taking a, a closer, uh, look
and a deeper dive in the type of trees
that should be planted in an urban environment.
So what happens is that the trees
that are planted out there now,
those rooting systems go out further than
what the actual tree canopy does.
So, and they're always looking for water, always looking
for a food source, right?
So that's why you get the issues that you have.
Um, but as you plant more urban trees that are, that are,
that are designed for urban environments,
the trees don't necess, the roots
don't necessarily grow out.
They grow straight down.
Okay. Right. So then they, and the,
and the root balls don't grow as much,
and they don't grow as tall
because they're designed to,
to be planted in more urban, more urban environments. Thank
You. That's all for
me today. Thank you, vice.
Thank you very much. Uh, alderman Beck.
Thank you Chairwoman. Uh,
good morning commissioner. Or good
Morning. Is it still morning?
Yep. Um,
I think you covered quite a few things that I was gonna ask.
Um, going back to the, uh,
the Joliet Water deal, as you know, um, you know,
when you're looking at the DuPage system they bought, uh,
they bought into this Northbrook site, which, um, you know,
looks like they might potentially, uh,
set up their own system
that would do a couple things to our system.
One, you know, be a revenue loss
and then long term be a potential, uh, damage to our,
um, bond ratings.
What is the specific situation right now with the, um,
negotiations with DuPage
and how are we moving forward on
supplying that water system?
So re currently right now, um, we have been in very
constant communication and trying to understand what, uh,
their intentions are.
Um, as of right now, um, they have signed a 17 year,
uh, contract extension.
Uh, so we, they're on our system for the next 17 years.
Um, we have, well, we have, again, we have been talking
to them to figure out, um, what it would take
to keep them on our system.
And when, and we've made, we've talked about cost
of service, things of that nature,
and we've talked about, um, uh, just the maintenance of,
you know, some of our, some of the, the, the, the,
the pumping station that we share.
Um, and those are things that are,
that are being currently being worked out among
between Department of Finance, DWM, and DuPage.
Um, so we're making great progress.
Um, I think that as long as we are open and
and transparent about what our intentions are
and what we're trying to do, and be a good partner with them
and be good stewards, I think that, you know,
I don't think we'll have any issues.
Um, okay. I mean, that's, I know
that's what we're trying to do.
Uh, I think it was pretty stunning to see them buy
that Northbrook property
and basically put it out there that signaling to us
that they were cutting us off from,
or cutting themselves off from, uh, our funding source.
Um, with that, does that mean we would change
to a different water rate for them in this negotiation? Uh,
Yes. Okay.
And what damage would that do to, um,
just the bottom line in terms of
how much we would be bringing in? Um,
I would have to defer to, uh, the CFO
to answer that question.
Okay. Um, on the, you know,
when we look at a separate question here, um,
when we're looking at the arrears,
I think you had mentioned it was like 600 million in arrears
for, um, different residential
businesses and other municipalities.
Could you provide through the chair, um,
an Excel spreadsheet as we've done in the past of who those,
um, largest, uh,
scoff laws are in terms of getting funding back to the city?
Absolutely. And that's, um,
and if you could break, I'm not
as worried about the residential.
I know we have a lot of issues there, as a lot
of my colleagues have already brought up.
Um, but the, I know that there's a lot of businesses,
and then of course you mentioned, I think, um, two
or three municipalities that we have ongoing litigation
with going on seven years now,
which I think is pretty absurd.
But, you know, I guess as long as we're continuing
to negotiate
and try to get those dollars back, that's helpful.
Um, so whatever you can provide there that would be helpful.
And then just, um, if you have it as well, if not,
we can ask the, uh, um,
CFO, but the collection agencies, the liens,
and, um, any other, uh, license renewal issues related
to each one of those that would be helpful?
That would definitely come from finance.
Um, finally, just kind of going back to,
I think a big issue with, you know,
as we see more development happening, not just in the city,
but throughout a lot of the areas that we provide water to,
um, water conservation I think is a huge issue that,
um, hasn't been addressed.
I, I know we've done it,
but in your discussions with everyone, when you, you know,
you're talking about, look,
we're gonna provide this water through our pipeline.
What other conservation efforts are being made, um,
other than with, say, metropolitan Planning Council with,
um, CMAP
and some of the other agencies that are dealing
with these water issues, how are we driving
that conversation from our side?
Um, so we're, so thank you for that question.
We're looking at, um, a lot of different things.
So Cmap and all those
and all of them, they're great partners for us on that.
'cause they're able to get the word out a little bit better
than, than, than we are.
Um, we partner with a lot of organizations
to talk about water conservation.
I think that as we talk about, um, uh,
water conservation, we have to address the fact
that there are several different suburban, uh, communities
that will be without water really soon.
Right. So as we talk about, uh,
becoming a premier water provider, uh, in the Midwest
for these other, uh, municipalities, that's all a part of
that, uh, of that discussion.
How, what are you doing on your side to have wa you know,
to provide water conservation?
Are you looking at low flow toilets?
Are you looking at low flow faucets?
Are we looking at, um, does everybody have a water meter?
Things of that nature. Anything that we can talk about,
uh, water loss.
How are you addressing water loss in your actual system
within your, within your,
within your township within your municipality
When you're, uh, funding any conservation efforts here,
what are you doing with CPS to reach out to, you know,
our youth and really start at a much younger age
to educate them on the need to start conserving water?
More than I would say a lot of, a lot of us adults.
Um, I know CPS does, uh, energy conservation
packets with, um, uh, ComEd.
You know, they, they hand out a big box, I think just
to fifth graders, if I'm not mistaken,
fourth or fifth graders.
And in that they do have some of the water,
um, what do we call 'em?
Just a, a filter that sort of reduces the amount
of water flow on a, on a certain, uh, piece, uh,
say a faucet or a pipe.
What other things have you suggested
or could suggest for getting involved at CPS?
Um, I think it's that those are gonna be
ongoing conversations.
What I can appreciate is that, uh, come
and people's gas have already started those conversations.
Um, it's a matter, we can actually just piggyback on those
to let them know, you know, what we, what we,
what they can do from another standpoint.
So, for instance, again, talking to their parents about, um,
uh, about making sure that they have a water meter.
Make sure that they're having their system looked at
to make sure there aren't any leaks to talk about, um, uh,
the perfect time of day to water their grass.
Things of that, how you shouldn't, uh, uh,
wash dishes during a storm.
Things of that nature. Things, especially things
that are gonna overtax the system.
And just really start talking about, um, how do you use, uh,
how do you, uh, have water reuse?
So for instance, how do you, if you
MWRD still gives out rain barrels, how do we they partner
with them to be able to get the rain barrels, the parents,
get the, the rain barrels from MWRD
and use it for watering their grass
or their plants and things of that nature.
Just, you know, other things that, those are the things
that we can still start talking about.
Sounds good. Um, well, I hope you continue those with, uh,
with our, our kids.
I think that's really, you know, when you mention
other suburban areas running out of water, we know,
you know, some of those aquifers are
drying up within 10 years.
Yes. And they're gonna be in a desperate situation.
So, uh, I hope you can continue those efforts to coordinate
with them, work with them to make sure they have the
water access they need.
And then, uh, finally, just wanna say, uh,
thanks to all of your staff.
Um, there's a long list of people who've done a great job
for us, Elisa, Tony,
and the community engagement effort has been really
excellent, um, especially on some of the, uh, issues
that we've had with digging up streets.
And I know a couple of colleagues have brought that up
where the street's open for a long time
and then you guys finish it
and somebody else comes in and wipes it out.
So, um, please continue to coordinate on all those efforts
to, um, you know, make sure that happens in the right way.
Absolutely. Thank you very much.
Thank you, commissioner. Thank you. Thank you.
Walterman wack us back Chair, Irvin.
Thank you. Um, just a couple of questions.
Seem like most of the things been answered.
Uh, where, where are we at on the, uh, jock implementation?
I know we've been talking about this for a little bit.
And so, uh, where, where are we at with
that from your departmental stand?
Um, so we've been, had the conversation
with the law department, um, and with, uh, the CPO.
Um, and I do believe it's still in review with the CPO
and the law department to be able to change the ordinance
to be able to add the different
things you want to add to it.
Um, so we have, I can follow up to find out where it is.
Okay. As, as we've said, uh, this is, uh,
I'll call these generational opportunities, especially
for small businesses.
Uh, I don't view this as a, uh, a million dollar job.
I think it's like a, a 40,
$40,000 job you perform 20 times, right.
Or 25 or 30 times.
And, and I think that creates the economic opportunity, uh,
for some of our small businesses
and creates the capacity to grow, grow businesses.
So I'm, I'm hopeful, and, uh,
I know this has been a, a labor of love.
I know, uh, chair Mitch, uh, vice mayor, uh, Burnett, uh,
chair Dow, our chair caucus,
and others been sitting in on this, uh, chair Coleman, uh,
because we think this is the right move for our, our city
and, uh, will help not only, as you said,
the hiring processes
and the creation of, uh, what we'll call generational wealth
for, for community.
So we definitely want to, you know, keep our, uh, you know,
nose to the ground on this one
because we, this will be significant.
I, I've been hearing in the news a little bit
that the funding is counter topsy-turvy.
So what's happening with the funding from a federal
or state level on, on this lead replacement?
Um, so it's, you know,
for us everything is funding driven.
Um, we have funding, we have about $14 million
that we got from, um, from the state, uh, to do block level.
Um, and we're gonna keep applying for that.
Um, the other money that we have can only be used, um,
on the public side to be, to redo lead service lines.
Excuse me. So as we get funding for the,
for the private side, then we're able to allocate
that funding from on the public side.
'cause we have to, it's, it, it, it works out better for us
to be able to do the, the service line at once
and not have to come back two
or three times to dig up the ground.
So it's, it's a matter of just trying to,
to parse it all together, whether it's SRF money,
whether it's wfi, whether it's bond, whether it's, you know,
some type of, uh, um, some type of, uh,
set aside from one of the legislators.
I mean, it's, we have to try
to par just parse it all together.
So what, what are we estimating?
The, uh, I know we, we had the, like the daycare centers
and other, or we call high priority areas where we had a lot
of young people because of what LED does, does to them.
Where are we on the equity base, uh, changes for
our, uh, daycares and other places for children?
Um, so on the daycare this
year, I have that number.
Gimme one second.
So the, we we're, look, we're hoping
to do on the equity side for, uh, for, for next year,
we're hoping to do about 600 replacements
on the equity side.
Um, as we do 'em, as they come in, I can get you the,
the final number of where we
are, how many we've done this year.
Okay. Um, 'cause that number is
changing, you know, every day.
So, but we'll, for next year we're looking to do about 600,
600 replacements.
And what do, what do we estimate the cost of that to be?
Um, so you're talking probably, I'll tell you right now,
I'm sorry, it would be
next year for about
$7.6 million.
And that funding is, that's corporate funded.
I mean that's, uh, bond funded on my assumption?
No. Or is it, or is it, or it's blended.
Uh, the equity funding is CDBG
And we're doing the whole line with that money
or So a hundred percent CDBG no state money
or other dollars with that.
Correct. Mighty be, let me ask you this question.
Mighty be advantageous for us to blend CDBG money
with other funding to do more locations,
or we'll let max this out at the locations we need to do,
We would have to take a look at it.
Again, we're just look, trying to figure out,
and so let me say it like this.
We're looking at all different,
different combinations of money, right?
It's a jigsaw puzzle. We're looking at, you know,
C-D-B-G-B-G money being used on the, strictly on the,
uh, the private side.
We're looking at bond money being strictly used on the,
on the, on the, uh, the private side.
Um, we're looking at even when the, when, you know, the,
like with, uh, Senator Duckworth gave us money,
we're looking to use that on the private side.
And so that way that does help us maximize everything
on the public side.
So anything that is not held up by some type of law
or some type of restriction,
we're using it on the private side.
The restriction currently is,
is from IEPA on the public side only for their dollars.
Is that correct? Correct. Okay.
And the private side, that's ironic
that we can use CDBG money on a private side,
but we can't use IEPA money on a, on a private side as,
and it's the same funded source.
That's interesting. Um, on average,
when we start talking about these homes,
what is the average cost of replacement from our main
to essentially to their, to their, uh, non-lead service?
Um, right now on the low side, um,
it's about 15,000 depending on the length.
And it can go up to average about about $35,000. 35,000.
Right. And that's, that's, that's all in
for restoration. Everything. Everything.
So $35,000 job for most residential units? Yes. Okay.
And, and,
and how many of these have we estimated that we have to do?
Say that one more. I'm sorry. How
Many, how many of these lead service
lines do we have to replace? Um,
Right now we at numbers of right about 400,000,
400,000.
Wow. That's a lot of money. That's a whole lot of plumbers.
Mm-Hmm. Uh, okay.
I, I would crack a joke,
but, uh, I don't want to want to end up anywhere.
Uh, but nonetheless, I think that, uh, given those numbers,
um, it's all good.
Uh, given those numbers, we, we see the opportunity
that exists and I, and I think it's gonna be incumbent upon
us to, you know, u utilize that opportunity to,
to make our communities, uh, better.
So we appreciate, uh, the work that you all are doing,
the team and the responsiveness and,
and all the, all of that great stuff.
You're, your, uh,
team on the op side does, uh, very good work.
Uh, the finance is not your baby, so we won't, uh,
we won't hit you upside the head with that one.
But nonetheless, I, I think you guys
are doing, uh, great work.
Uh, we, we like to continue
to see the construction in the main
replacements, um, as they happen.
I know you guys had a little slow down this year.
Um, uh, we do you,
you anticipating 25 getting back up to full strength on that.
Um, so full strength is kind of subjective.
Um, we are projected to do about 12 miles of water
and about six miles of sewer next year.
That, that doesn't sound like full strength. Uh,
Again, so again, it goes back to funding, right?
Okay. So we have to make sure that,
'cause as we're doing these water
and sewer mains, uh, replacements, we're,
we're doing the lead service lines at all at the same time.
So that's, again, it goes back
to the private side funding. So
What, what has, so when we did a water main in the past,
uh, what was the cost of that versus now having
to add the lead service lines in?
What's the cost differential per block on that?
Um, so average, um, if I can go back
to the four years ago when I was here,
and I'll have to do some more math,
it was about a million dollars, uh, a block.
And it's a, it's about, it's,
it's pretty much double that now.
Oh, so 2 million with the lead service line replacements.
Yes. And with, with the, with the block.
Right. And that's rest of restoration all in and out.
And let's go back to 21.
What were we doing a year in Maine? Replacement in 21?
I, I think one more time. What
Were we doing a year in Maine?
Replacement in 21.
How many miles a year? In 21?
Uh, about anywhere from 80 to 90 miles.
That's, I, I remember like,
I was thinking a hundred in my mind, so, alright.
Yeah, we, we definitely, so theoretically full service
for us would be about 50 miles, 40
to 50 miles. Theoretically it
Would be 40 miles on the water side. Yes.
Okay. And we're gonna do,
you said 8 12 12 12 12 next year.
Yeah. We, we gotta, we gotta get,
and the funding, that set
of funding when we were on a hundred mile,
that main replace a hundred year old main replacements,
how much of that is still out there
for those old water mains that need to be replaced?
I would have to get you that through the
chair. Okay. Yeah.
Um, okay then, then that's, that's about it.
I, I know that the, that the, the capital program and, and,
and we can talk with, uh, Jill about the bonding efforts
or what our debt capacity is on, on the water.
Uh, but we definitely need to get back into the swing of,
of replacing this infrastructure.
Um, because it, again, it's gonna be the lifeline
of lifeblood of a lot of, a lot of people and the work
and, you know, we hear from the
contractors of the lack of work.
And again, that lack of work equals lack of jobs for, uh,
residents in the city of Chicago.
So again, uh, to the extent we can, let's get back on that,
uh, major program so that we can, uh, fix what we need
to fix and at the same time,
or create a new class of, uh, businesses
and give people some opportunities,
they otherwise wouldn't have it.
So thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you Chair.
Thank You. Chair Irvin. Chair, uh, alderman Moore.
Thank you, chairman. Good morning, commissioner.
Good morning, alderman. Um, there's no doubt you,
you are one of my favorites and, um,
and I, um, appreciate the work that, um,
you and your team do.
But I, but when I walked in here, I was looking around, um,
I didn't see, um, a Donna Murray
and I'm looking at this, um, org chart.
Where does she fall at on this org chart in this book here?
So I'll know because just I want to keep in mind that
during your absence, um, for many of us alderman,
she really held it down for
that water department to getting stuff done.
I think a lot of all alderman can speak to that
and I just wanna see where she's at on the org chart.
I know she still helps me out when I call her.
She's a great asset to me.
And I don't know, maybe some other alderman as well still,
but I'm trying to find out where she's at on this org chart.
So this org chart is, uh, indicative of senior staff, uh,
de pretty much deputy or director and above.
You said what This is it's indicative of senior staff.
So like my first deputy people, some
of the people you see in the box, um, okay.
Like from the deputy slash director and and above.
Okay. And then from there then who is she reporting to?
Did she work she reports directly to you?
No, she reports to, uh, Wil Beatty.
Okay. So she'd be one if there was a box here.
And what's her title now?
'cause I know it changed, I just don't know it.
Who, um, she's a, she's a general superintendent.
General soup. Okay.
It is hard to find, uh, especially women
who are excellent at both
construction, plumbing and all of that.
So we just wanna make sure that we, um, you know,
keeping them at the forefront.
Okay. Absolutely. Um, also, um, I want to talk about,
um, when I'm getting my staff, they want to definitely say,
give a shout out to Gregory Knight.
They say he's very responsive, um, to, um,
their needs out there as they handling
that on the data basis.
So I just wanted to recognize, uh, Gregory for being there
for my team when they called.
Um, but they also said they wanna make sure that both Elisa
and Gregory when cutting the street, uh, that we need
to make sure those place
and barricades are around the cut in a very good way.
'cause evidently they're getting a lot
of calls on there when they do cut that street.
So I just wanna make sure so we can
minimize those, um, calls.
Um, um, you know, when, when those cuts happen,
You know, ironically enough, um, alderman
that falls under will to Beatty, um, as part
of the restoration even on the, for, on the front.
Um, so that's one of the things that a Donna kind
of oversees as well.
Okay. Making sure that when they cut the stream,
when they come back for restoration,
that everything is in its place right as it gets turned over
to the contractor, over to the earth, to the, in-house guys
to be able to, uh, to do the restoration.
Okay. And then, um, that South water plant,
during your absence, uh, I was getting a lot of calls about,
I guess problems with the roof and a lot of water there.
Uh, and I, but I haven't gotten any calls lately,
so I'm assuming you did something
about it as soon as you got in.
So can you talk about that? Uh,
he got up on the roof and fixed it himself?
Yeah, they're um, they are in the process
of replacing the roofing out there.
Okay. Um, that,
and it's about a, it's a 12 phase,
I do believe a 12 phase project.
It's a multi-year project, so yeah.
So we are doing a, trying to get that roof replaced.
So it's, it already started and, and
but there, it's a 12 phase project?
Yes, sir. Okay. What phase are, are we at on it? If
You, I wanna say we're in phase four or five right now.
Okay.
Alright. Well thank you Commissioner.
I don't have a, you know, I mean, you're just doing
A-A-A-I-I didn't expect anything last.
You're doing, you're doing a what Reverend CLA used
to say a herculean job out there.
And I do appreciate everything
that you and your team are doing.
And so, you know, I just wanna make sure as we
as alderman be here to support you, um, in terms
of whatever you need.
I know there's budget cuts,
but don't be afraid to tell us this is gonna hurt
because at the end of the day we're gonna get those calls.
Right. I understand the politics of things,
but you gotta say that so we can, um,
fight back just like the, um,
police superintendent fought back, others have fought back
and so you, if there are certain critical things
that's gonna cause you a problem, you have to say so,
and we, and it's our job to figure that out. Thank
You Alderman. I appreciate that.
Alright. Thank you. Thank you. Alderman Moore.
Um, chair Viegas, did you need a round two? Go ahead.
Thank you. Um, chair Irvin, um,
was going under a path I was going.
So under Emanuel it was about a hundred miles a year.
Yes sir. And I heard it was 12 this year. Okay.
Um, the, the, um, the million dollars
or $2 million now per street for water main, is that
to the B box or to the home?
Um, that's to the home. So that's, that $2 million is
if you're doing a full fledged water main replacement,
the services restoration, everything.
Okay. Alright.
Um, and then, but prior to that we did water service lines.
Did we, did we change the service line from
the main to the B box?
Or did we, my understanding at some point we only did three
feet of copper from the main
and we still have a connection of lead
and service in the middle of the street. Is that accurate?
That would be correct. Right.
So, so then again about efficiencies.
So now we have at some point lead service lines
that are still in the middle of the street
with a new water main that's there
because for some reason we didn't go to the B box, so
that way we wouldn't have to go back into the
street. Is that accurate?
That would absolutely, that would be
Accurate. Okay. Um,
as it relates to,
um, technologies around technologies, right?
I've, I've been a big proponent
of CIPP current place piping.
I know that you've started those.
What technologies are out there for lining the service lines
that are led from the B box
to the home inside?
Is there, have we looked at that?
Um, we have, um, so any of those products have
to be vetted by IEPA to make sure
that they are water main quality linings.
And so it has to be something that's approved by them.
Um, some suburbs have done 'em.
Um, we haven't gotten anything from IEPA to say that,
that it's allowed to be done.
Uh, so we're, we're we're we're willing to try it.
We're willing to, to see what would happen with it.
I think that it will be a great investment.
I'm looking at anything that we can be able to, you know,
fast track, you know, some of this work, right.
And not disturb, you know, any, any of the ground. Right.
So, so to minimize the cost,
Right. 'cause the, the
majority of the cost
of the lead service line comes from the
restoration portion of it, correct?
Right. So have, have, we thought,
and I say we the city, have, we thought about issuing RFI
around, um, taking a look at technologies that deal with
lining and allow the industries to come to us to say, Hey,
we have this great idea, and then we can propose it
or have them go down to IEPA to try to get some type
of standard authorized.
Because again, 400,000 red lead service lines, no money.
We, we don't have the funding for it.
Um, and so we gotta start thinking creatively,
how are we gonna deal with this issue?
Um, 'cause it's not going away.
Um, absolutely. So we've had conversations with different,
uh, companies who have different technology.
Uh, 'cause we, I don't turn my back on anything say,
especially something that's going to expedite this process.
Um, but we've put it, put it on the, uh, the companies
to talk to IEPA to say that, that, that their,
that their product is compliant.
And IEPA does not have a problem with what,
with that, with that product.
So we're actually looking at a lot
of different technologies right now, whether it's, uh, CIPP
for the water main, um,
or whether it's CIPP for, um, uh, for the private drains
as well as CIPP for sewers.
As, as you know, we, we currently do. Yep.
So those things are out there right now.
We're just waiting for, um, some of the bids to come back.
We're waiting for some of the
technology questions to come back on those.
So then, uh, two things through the chair, if you could,
um, could you, um, tell me how many of those
mains that we replaced, that we didn't go to the B box,
that ultimately we're gonna have to go back
and replace at some point and what that cost would be?
Scott, can you say
that again? I wanna make sure I understand your
Question. So, so remember, uh,
you had agreed
that at some point let's, um, main ser mains were replaced.
The service lines from the main to the, to the home
was only extended out three feet, which means it attached
to the lead service line that was already in existence.
So how many of those streets are, how many times,
how many times did we do that?
And what's the cost to, to go back out there
and have to open it up again and get it to the B box?
Um, we'll try to put that cost together for
You. Yeah, perfect. And then, um,
and then what's the plan to to,
to go back at some point? Uh,
So actually, so we've been in conversations
with IAPA about that.
Um, and we have an agreement, um, as we come across them.
Um, we replace them, um, but as,
because we're getting to the lead service line piece, um, if
that's going to take our care of a, of, of a lot of that
as we, as we continue to build the program.
Cool. Thank you. And then again, I would just reiterate
that, um, given the, the, the liability, the amount of money
that costs here at some point, a, a declaration
of health is gonna have to be declared in order
to really elevate the seriousness of this problem.
And it's unfair to the residents of Chicago that, um,
a a law that was ultimately passed at the federal level,
that the city of Chicago was the last
municipality to comply.
Um, that they're having to deal with these issues now.
And so we need to get really elevate this issue
so that we can the funding.
So thank you again, commissioner,
and again, thank you for all
the work that you and your team do.
Absolutely. Thank you Ottoman.
Thank you. Chair. Viegas.
Uh, there are no other questions except for mine.
I have a couple. Um, you know,
we get very often folks that come into the,
to the ward office after they've been getting estimated
bills for some time, they get a, a water meter put in.
Um, and then they'll get a bill that says, you know,
you owe $5,000, um, from
between when your water meter stopped working
and when we installed the new meter, how does the city know,
how do we know like what water is passed
or if the meter, if the old meter broke?
Um, so what, what happens is that once the,
so there's a couple of different things, right?
So if we're not getting an accurate read
or we're not getting reading at all, uh, we work
with the Department of Finance to see what the next
few readings are, and we take the a they take the average of
that and that's how they determine what that bill should be.
Um, some, sometimes it goes up,
sometimes it goes down depending on
what those readings are moving forward,
and then that they work it out with the, um,
with the resident on what that payment would be.
Okay. Got it. That, that makes sense.
Not great, but it makes sense.
Um, um, uh, as far as, um,
I know we talked a little bit about contractors earlier.
Um, and we asked for through the chair the list of,
uh, contracts that have been awarded.
I'm, I'm interested in knowing, um,
how competitive our bids are.
Um, in, in particular, you know, what,
what process we have when the lowest bids
for time sensitive projects come in
and they're actually higher than like, fair market value
or what it would cost for us to do in-house.
How do we handle those situations?
Um, so we actually,
I've challenged my team to look at those.
And we've had some that have come in that have been way out
of, out of range, and we've kicked them out
and we've started the rebidding process over again.
But what we've done is we took a look at those contracts
to see what would, what would, what, what, what,
what those drivers were and are.
And we try to either pull them out or,
or lessen the scope, depending on what that contract is
to try to bring that cost down back into range. Okay.
Thanks for that. Um,
and I know we asked for through the chair, the, the list
of contractors awarded contracts awarded by year.
Can I add to that? Just the, the number of bidders as well?
Um, and who they are for those contracts?
Um, and, and really just trying to get to, you know,
competition is better for the city at
the end of the day because Absolutely.
That drives prices down.
Um, so I wanna make sure that we're doing everything
that we can to make sure that there is actually competition.
Do we, is there ever a case
where we we only get one bidder on something?
Um, absolutely. Especially on the, um, on our, some
of our commodities, especially our chemicals, well that's,
those are the times that really only get one bid.
Um, and even other areas.
Um, and that's just, it's the nature.
'cause there aren't a lot of people that do the amount
that can do the work that we do.
Right. That, that we had, that we need to be done.
There aren't a lot of contractors
who can do water main work.
There are not a lot of contractors
who can do sewer main work,
especially at the amount that we do.
Or they just don't want to do work in the city of Chicago
because of the level of difficulty it is
for a pip in the ground
and working around all the utilities we have, um, the people
who know how to do it, those are the ones that bid on it.
The people who don't and don't
wanna be bothered. They just don't.
Gotcha. Um, last question that I have is just around, um,
payment of contractors.
You know, I, I do hear from, uh, people that contract
with the city not only in the, the water
with the water department, but with CDOT
and others, just how much time it takes to,
to pay contractors.
Um, how are we doing with that?
The Department of Water Management?
Um, I think we're doing pretty well.
The ones that, the outliers that are out there, um,
are generally the contracts that are, are the, the, the,
the subs that are looking for payment.
Mm-Hmm. Right. And we work through procurement to make sure
that, uh, that the,
that the primes are getting the subs paid.
Um, as long as they're submitting the paperwork to us
and everything is in line, then we try to push
that payment out as fast as possible.
Once we're done on our end
and it goes over to the comptroller's office,
it's like it goes there
and we don't, it's not, it's out of our control.
They process it from that point.
Yeah. And I know this is something we're gonna be really
interested in talking to the Department
of Procurement Services about, is just the direct pay
and how that might help to expedite, uh, payment to,
to all the contractors up
and down from the primes down to the subs.
Absolutely. Um, because I think that's also,
that also becomes a, a deterrent
to people wanting to do business with the city.
Is that the time it takes to, to get paid? Absolutely.
Um, and, and all of the red tape that that takes, um,
those were all the questions that I had
and I'll, I'll save my thanks here.
Um, I, I have called you also at very odd times, um,
and many people in your department, um, especially
with all the rain we got this year,
we had an especially fun time in Chinatown Yes.
When, um, there were some sewers that were throwing up,
um, in the neighborhood.
So I really, uh, appreciated everybody that came out
and literally spent the day, um,
helping to, to clean that up.
And I know we're gonna work together, um, along with you
and the me, um, excuse me, uh,
commissioner Hopkins in buildings to make sure
that we're educating all of our local business owners,
especially restaurant owners, um, about what they need
to be doing to properly dispose of Greece.
Uh, because, you know, we're,
we're gonna start sending people bills Yeah.
Uh, for the kind of work that we've been doing.
Absolutely. And, you know, I, I would be remiss if I did
not take the time to thank my, the staff, um,
everybody from you see in the box to some people
that are sitting in the audience, to people who aren't here,
who are just listening in, uh,
DWM would not be what it is without them.
Um, I, I tell anybody, any given day
that I would put my staff up against any other
commissioner's staff, and we would take them down.
I mean, that's, that's just the reality
of it from my point. And we would tell
Me how you really feel. I mean, it,
it is, I mean, 'cause I think I
have the best staff out there.
I really, really do. From, from my deputies down through,
you know, all of my foreman, they do, they do a hell
of a job every day to make sure that water's flowing,
make sure sewers are down.
And it's the things that they don't,
that the people don't see that happen,
that we don't get the thanks for.
And, and we, it's,
and I say it all the time, people don't have an issue
with water until there isn't any water.
Yep. And then it's, then there's an issue everywhere. Right?
So I want to take this time for all the unsung heroes
that work for DWM that don't get the thanks
and get the praise because they're out there every day.
Like now, you know, fixing water Mains are doing whatever.
They're doing that to just say thank you,
because they're the ones that get it done for us every day.
Absolutely. Many, many, many thanks.
Um, and special shout out
to the people that I call all the time.
Dan Mish. Tony fta. Absolutely.
Um, and, and others on the team.
I, I know I'm missing a lot of people,
but those are the people I usually have on speed dial.
So thank you. And if, if one
of them is calling you, thank you too.
Um, with that, I think we're going to, um, stand at ease
for a few minutes to transition to aviation.
Um, why don't we reconvene in five minutes,
um, at 1230. Thank you.
Thank you. I,
When your pants,
what you said on
Oe around Oe
around, I know you're not osha.
I, that, that, that I
you are not Matt Oe.
Oh, he sure does. I thought I saw him earlier. I, I, okay.
Very well. Um, we are,
uh, back up and rolling.
Uh, welcome back, uh, committee on, uh, budget
and government operations.
We have the Department of Aviation, uh, with us today, uh,
commissioner Ree and her team.
Uh, we will have opening statements by the commissioner, uh,
followed by, I mean introductions, followed
by opening statements from the department.
First we will have the, uh, council Office
of Financial Analysis give a brief overview
of the departmental budget
and then proceed with the, uh, commissioner,
uh, commissioner Reed. Dan, go ahead.
Good afternoon. Daniel Fris Drumm Council Office
of Financial Analysis.
Last up. Today we have Department 0 8 5,
the Chicago Department of Aviation.
The total appropriation
for FY 25 recommended budget is 1.5 billion,
which is 2% less than the revised amount for FY 24.
Contractual services have decreased by 42%.
The total budgeted full-time equivalence
for FY 25 increased by 110.
This is rising from 2,282
to 2,392.
FTEs Personnel services allocated
for the FY 25 budget amount to 230.3 million.
World non-personnel services total
1,317 million.
Thank you.
Um, we're gonna start with, um,
alderman Oscha from the 13th Ward.
Oh, he left. Oh, he got, he, he tried to get outta this one.
So, questions. Who's up first? Who wants on first?
Vie alderman vie, go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, commissioner. Good to see you again. Hello, sir.
Um, I want to talk a little bit about the concessions.
Um, so great opportunity coming up.
Um, however,
there's some ki there's some restaurant restaurateurs that
may be interested but aren't A-C-D-B-E qualified yet.
And fit that criteria, um, is,
is aviation in communication with DPS to figure out how to
kinda streamline that process given the fact that
proposals are gonna be, uh, due
soon. I don't, what are they due?
Um, the proposals are due right now.
We have them, um, on February 19th.
Okay. So a couple months. Yeah. Yeah.
So is it, um, you being the former commissioner of DPS,
is it realistic that we can get those folks certified
within that timeframe?
Yeah. So thank you so much, elder.
Um, I've been, um, working with Sharla, the new CPO
and she certainly understands how important it is
for these certifications
to be available when the bids are due.
Um, that is a federal, it's a federal program,
so we're not able to accept conditional.
We've looked at that to see if there was a way Mm-Hmm.
So what we decided to do, um, with DPS is
to really track those individuals that we know are A-C-D-B-E
that are trying to get certified
so that we can elevate that.
Now we are, and we just announced this week,
that we will be having yet another outreach event.
You know, we have had, um, three previously,
this will be now another event that we're gonna hold on,
um, December 11th.
And again for another networking in case folks miss the
first couple, we wanna make sure that they can, um,
meet some of the primes that are currently working
and then others that wanna do business with there as well.
Um, and DPS has been an integral part of that
as well as BACP.
So we are all very much connected on making sure
that we cast as wide a net, get
as much information out there
and get those that wanna be a part of it certified.
So we are working very closely with them on that.
Okay. So, so hearing that response, so, uh,
procurement knows that when folks are coming in
for this A-C-D-B-E, that, not
that they're giving a special privilege,
but that there's opportunity
to expedite it a little bit in order
to make sure they don't miss this opportunity.
Uh, absolutely. And I was one of, um, probably, uh,
CPO Robert's first calls
and she was like, I am ready, let's go.
And understood it
and actually did a video that will be boasted on our website
as well as BACP has done one.
We've got some different ones on there just to talk to about
how important this is
and what generational wealth building
opportunities they are.
You get into this airport
and we've seen it, you get into one of our airports
and then the, the, you know,
400 airports across America are open to you.
Um, and so making sure that, you know,
these don't come around that often.
So we wanna make sure that we are, um,
getting everybody that wants to.
And she was on board with that 100%. Cool.
Thank you. And if you have any of those, um, videos
that you want us to share within our
network, we'd be more than happy to do that.
Make let you go viral so
That, uh, yes, absolutely.
So there is the, um, QR code that is on the flyer
for order up, which is what we call the concession.
So, um, ORD up, um, the, uh, uh, there is a, uh,
QR code that we'll make sure that everyone has
that will take you right to the spot
where you can find all the questions that are gonna be,
we're, we're getting ready to answer all
of the questions via addendum coming up.
Um, also the outreach events that we've had,
who has attended the outreach, in case you wanna reach out
and connect on your own as well as the videos
and the how to, so tons of resources online.
Thank you. So, so lemme pivot for a second for, um, the,
the project, the, the, the Taps Tap project.
Tap. Yeah. Um, are we back on schedule
or is it, are we, how are we looking?
What's the timeline for this complete?
What I can tell you is that the team has
worked incredibly hard.
Um, you know, we presented to the airlines in, in February
and on plan budget, um, uh, that would deliver, uh, tap.
Um, we then, uh, worked with our airline partners to,
to really look at, was it possible to bring some
of the bigger elements forward, like the global terminal,
which would co-locate international
and domestic, um, operations,
huge operational benefit for us.
Um, and so what we pledged to do in May when we announced
that, when mayor announced that, um, we, uh, went
to work right away, got a, one of our C Mars on there
to start costing out what that would be
and really what operational impacts,
because the entire plan, as you know,
originally the baseline plan was the delivery
of satellite one, um, satellite two, then OGT.
And what we are looking at now, the phasing will bring on
satellite one and then OGT and then satellite two.
And so those phasing, looking at
that phasing from an operational
and from a financial perspective, those are ongoing.
Cool. Thank you. Well, listen, aviation,
you guys do a great job there.
Um, do I, um, have recently been, uh, traveling
to different airports
and I am a little jealous that we're not there yet,
but I know that based on the plan, the renderings
that have been, uh, shown
and approved, that once this project is completed,
we're gonna be rivaling, we're gonna be the best
airport, uh, in the country.
So thank you for your leadership,
and again, thank you, your team for
always doing a great job. So thank you.
Thank you very much. All
Thank Vegas.
Uh, going back to a point that he made
and why, it seems like the, the way these deals are set up,
like if team A wins,
then team a's team is in the mix from a, uh, from a lack
of a term, from a branding standpoint,
have we ever looked at like a management set up whereby
we could still get, like for example,
if Team A wins
and McDonald's is not on team, a McDonald's is outright,
but we got good iconic Chicago brands
that might not be on the winning team,
but still from a perspective of a Chicagoan,
uh, should be there.
Right? But they're, they're, they're not on
that quote unquote team.
Is there, are there ways to deal with that?
Because I would hate to see like a
MacArthur Soul food restaurant that might be on a team,
not participate because their team wasn't in,
but we end up with Chicago Chicken, which is some,
I'm not going, I'm not gonna go there,
but like, that's not Chicago.
I mean, when you're looking for like real Chicago iconic
brands, how can we like deal with something like that?
Um, so right now the current RFP
that is on the street has 112 spaces.
It will not be one firm. There's going to be several.
And there's actually, um,
certain packages are really carved out for smaller firms.
Um, so that we make sure that we're doing capacity building.
We have some shared common, um, kitchen space
to bring down the cost to do business.
So we've looked at all of that to make sure
that it isn't one single operator.
Um, midway, for example, is a single operator,
um, terminal five.
We also have an operator,
but we have direct leases there as well,
which we brought on recently.
Um, when we added new space, we were able
to fill that with concessions.
So we have direct leases with the city
and T five as well as, um, with, uh, Westfield
or URW, um, in terminals one, two, and three.
What this RFP represents is terminals one and three only.
So there will be future coming out.
We expect many more to come.
Um, but this is the immediate need right now is,
as you may recall, about 85%.
Um, in 20 18, 80 5% of all the leases
that we had at O'Hare were expired.
Um, when we worked with our covid money to, um, help the,
and assist the concessionaires during that time,
we actually, city council put them on co-Terminus, um,
contracts to to, to expire.
So those are really what we're focused on,
but there's many, many opportunities.
One other thing I will just say is that, um, concessions,
um, are a federal program, so we are not able to
directly say that we want local brands,
but what we've done is very creatively work
with the law department, um, on the RFP itself
that would sort of incentivize that we have incentives
for working with high schools
and with community colleges to bring them in.
And so who better than folks that are already in Chicago.
And so things like that that we can do to give a leg up, we,
we do without violating the federal rules
of any local incentives or local requirements. Well,
I, like I said, I, I, I liked the genuineness of
the, um, I liked the mid,
I liked midway better under the old setup when they had
Manny's and other stuff out there.
Now I've got, you know, Taylor Street, uh, sandwich.
I'm like that, that's not real, you know,
Chicago, I'm just honest.
It's just not real Chicago.
I mean, if it was owls
or something, we would understand that.
But again, that was just a point from just seeing the new
stuff and not hoping that we make that same, I,
I'll call it a full pa uh, for, uh, O'Hare as as to me.
That has been done in Midway.
Chairman, you have any questions?
Thank you chairman. Morning commissioner.
Morning chairman. Um, I wanna start out with,
when we talk about the O'Hare 21 program, uh,
in conjunction with
that you established the Diversity Working group.
Uh, I'd like to start out by recognizing my colleagues, uh,
alderman Coleman and Alderman, uh, Rodriguez Sanchez,
who are currently co-chairing that working group
and compliment you commissioner and your entire team.
Uh, I found the work that you've done on this, um,
extremely informative,
but I think it would be important here, uh, on the record
that you talk a little bit about your work there
and all that's gone into it
and the, the fruits of that labor.
Great, thank you. Um, yes, that was established
by ordinance in 2018 after the A ULA was passed.
As part of that, um, uh, I believe, uh,
chairman Sawyer at the time and Chairman Viegas were very
instrumental in making sure
that we had e extra layers of compliance.
I appreciate you and vice chair.
You guys have been incredible assets to that group as well.
Um, we meet quarterly, um, we've had several meetings
and really bringing in our contractors, new contractors
to talk about their experiences with the group.
As you know, in the last meeting that we had a couple, uh,
uh, maybe a month ago, um, incredibly powerful to hear, um,
that, you know, tracking how many firms.
We have about 80 brand new small, diverse firms
that are currently working at the airport
that had never worked at the airport before.
So really bringing in those, for whatever reason,
they were scared of the badging process.
Too many regulations, didn't know how to start.
Our three construction managers at risk,
which are delivering the capital program for us, um,
all joint venture diverse at the top as well, know
how important workforce development, capacity building, um,
and, you know, the next generation
of workers at the airport is to the city.
The mayor has made it very clear, um, from day one that,
you know, making sure that we're casting a wide net
to get the youth involved is very important.
And to that end, we have seen tremendous results.
And if I could, I will, um, go through, um, of all
of the money that we have paid for the d for
for the TAP program, and that would be our designers,
our construction managers, and our PMO.
Um, for all the money that we have paid out.
Um, we are currently trending at, um, uh, about 37%
M-B-E-W-B-E participation on those projects.
And that is, you know, thanks to the team here, thanks
to your help because each
and every one of you, I know we've reached out,
my team's worked with you, you have sent us folks,
and that's what you need to do for us to engage them.
I'm very excited today to announce
that we have opened up small business centers,
both at O'Hare and Midway.
They will operate Monday through Friday.
We put out a press release today
that will show people like, I just don't know where to start.
You can walk in without an appointment
and talk to somebody about what is my next step?
Is it getting certified?
Is it, um, getting networking opportunities
or is it really that they need resources, um,
and looking for some financial resources
and how can we help assist them in
getting them to the right place?
Um, when you break down those numbers at 37%,
11% are African American, Hispanic, 16%,
Asian 5%, and women at seven.
Now that is by no means where we wanna see it.
There is, um, so much more work to do.
And we see by bringing in these new
firms, they're telling others.
And we're gonna really see, I think, over the next decade,
which is what this program will go, $6 billion,
really returning our investment into our communities
and putting the firms that want to be a part of this as well
as the people that want to work on it, um,
to have an avenue for them to get to us.
So I just thank you so much.
I also just wanna, the team that I, that I have each
and every day pounding the pavement out there to figure out
how do we cast that net, whether it be volunteers,
whether it be, um, folks that are looking to do work,
whether it is ideas that they're hearing from the community.
Um, one of the things that we, we,
we pride ourselves on is being out there
and hopefully being available to you.
So if there's ever anything,
and I know that a lot of you have had me out
and chairman, thank you so much for like ward night.
We are happy to talk to businesses about what is available,
um, if you've got a business focused
or if you wanna talk about current projects
or anything like that.
Um, we have very tailored, um, uh,
presentations that we can do.
And then many of you have taken us up on the, the bus.
We have a, a community bus that goes out into the wards.
It's outfitted with, um, all of our books.
We have about six different resource books.
You know, you're certified now what, like, you know,
getting work at O'Hare,
what financial resources are available for you, how
to navigate the badging process,
doing business with the, with us.
Um, and then also outfitted with, um, uh, flight simulators
to get even the youngest
and, you know, a lot of different folks engaged to say,
if you wanna land a plane, think about what is possible
as a career at aviation.
So all of that is really truly made possible
by the partnerships that we have out there.
It's incredible, along with all of our assist agencies
that we work very closely with.
Thank you. Um, it's no secret,
this is a very difficult budget year.
Uh, and although all airport, all of your, uh,
positions are without taxpayer dollars, uh, I have seen
that you're adding some additional staff this year.
I was wondering if you could walk us through what
that additional staff will be.
Sure. Um, so we have added in the budget
and we, we take that very seriously.
Like we go to the zero based budgeting.
We start from scratch. We look at every line item.
We look at, you know, the wishlist
that we get from our staff
and divisions on what they need to operate safely
and efficiently and getting ready
for the infrastructure upgrades that are coming.
Um, we have added 110, like you said, of that 110,
um, 50 of them are just airport security officers.
And I will mention them because they are our frontline.
They, they are, um, our, a lot of times
the first entry point in for contractors for, um, uh,
looking at our access points
and making sure that we, we have act adequate coverage.
We file every year a, a, a security plan, an A SP
with the TSA, it's required to make sure
that we are adequately safeguarding our city.
And they're a huge part of that. So 50 positions is in that.
And the current vacancies that we have out
of there are another, um, 40, um, that are,
uh, that are,
or I'm sorry, now there are 32 that are,
will come on in December 2nd.
But what I really would like to talk about is the 40 assos,
41 new SA assos that we just onboarded, um,
and had a graduation ceremony,
the largest class we've ever had.
Um, we did that by working with HR
and looking at inno innovative ways to hire
and casting a wide net.
You probably saw billboards.
We were sending out flyers, we were talking
to any organization that we could,
these are great entry level jobs that lead
to incredible careers.
And so out of those positions, um, you know, we have, uh,
um, like I said, 50 and then 32 that are coming on now.
Um, also we have, um, uh, the 41
that we just brought over is really
helping us reduce overtime.
We've run a shortage. Every time we would go out to to hire,
we would get a, a list perhaps of a hundred people
that then would go to 50
that would actually show up for the interview.
When they took the test, it would be down
to 25 and we might get 10.
This was the largest class we'd ever had.
And so we're duplicating that.
We've already seen by, they were just deployed this week
and we are now looking at what that is going to do
to our overtime and it's gonna bring it down.
Um, 60% in terms of hours worked.
So giving our assos a break, but also having that coverage.
But we still have a long way to go.
Um, TSA, there's likely to be a very, um,
soon a federal mandate on, um, airport,
all airport aviation worker screenings,
which would require us
to man even more posts and set up things.
So getting ready for that next evolution.
I also will say since 2018, since I've come in, um,
we've increased our parking spaces by 16%.
Um, so that's management, that's revenue collection,
that's procurement that you need.
That's maintenance and o and m
and facilities, 11% in airfield pavement.
It has grown. Uh,
8% in terminal space has grown 12%.
In gates, we added 350,000 square feet,
terminal five and 10 new gates.
Um, and then our capital spend, what we know is coming
with our new satellite, one, which will be delivered in 2028
to then OGT and satellite two.
Um, those elements, we expect
that our capital spend is projected to increase 10 to 15%.
So that is again, needing, um, needing to have, uh,
the staff to support that.
Also. Half of our staff is over the age of 45,
and that's very young where I'm sitting,
but that is in terms of what we are doing
with half of our staff.
We need succession planning
and we have very carefully gone through
and looked at those divisions that need that extra staffing.
Um, and so that's what's reflective of the 110.
Like I said, it's um, if you look at everything, it's 81%
of the 110 positions is safety, security,
operations, and labor.
19% represent just additional administrative to help
with the things that I talked about.
Thank you.
I noticed, um, you, you don't need to look at notes.
You, you get posed questions
and, uh, I, I think that points to just
what a fantastic leader you are and your knowledge.
Um, someone asked me this morning here, they said, Hey,
have you heard anything about commissioner re retiring?
You have no interest in retiring, correct?
I, I serve, it's a pleasure. Um, 31 years.
It's been an absolute pleasure. So thank you, sir.
Well, we have so much more work
to be done at our two global airports.
Uh, I for one, speaking for many of my colleagues,
appreciate your leadership.
Look forward to many more years of service. Thank you.
And, uh, thanks for all the work you do
and all the you've done to bring more equity.
Uh, special thanks to your team. Uh, thank you everybody.
Thanks, chairman. Thank you.
I thank you Alderman Quinn.
Uh, next we'll have, uh, alderman OSHA on the 13th order.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, good afternoon, Jamie.
Good afternoon, sir. Jamie, I wanna, I wanna start my line
of questioning around, um, our issue, uh,
around the airports with Windows.
Can you walk me through
what is the most up-to-date timeline on replacing these
smelly offgassing windows? Yes.
So, um, and thank you.
And thank you for your leadership in this area.
This was a very volatile issue when I came in.
And, um, we have, you know, took it very seriously.
Um, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of those folks, um,
that were impacted directly.
And, and, you know, we were able to, with your,
with your assistance, um,
and with Chairman O'Shea really, uh,
start the, the road to recovery.
But what that was interrupted by obviously, covid, right?
We, we have to go into people's homes that shut down. Yeah.
Um, we had a state law that was passed, as you know,
there was no funding for those windows.
It's an FAA soundproofing is a, uh, federal program.
Um, normally paid outta a IP, which has a 20% matching grant
by us, 80% by the feds.
Um, they say one and done, you get one shot at it.
Um, we were very fortunate to, you know,
to have done all the testing to make sure
that it wasn't toxic, but it was a nuisance.
Sure. And they deserved not to have that in their home.
So, using the, um, jet fuel tax that was
to help assist in paying, set up the committee,
the state committee, which is currently,
it's been changed, I think twice.
It now has 11 members, is chaired by Chairman Claar.
The city represents two people on that committee.
So there are nine others. I do believe there's one vacancy
right now, um, that they are still, uh, uh, filling.
But through that work and that committee,
which is met 31 times since it's inception, we have, first
of all, and foremost, we had to go work
with the manufacturers of the windows to make sure
that we didn't have the same problem.
And, you know, if we're gonna put a bid out there
to get windows, we needed to make sure
that we were getting windows that did not have the double
pane with the, with the screen.
And that was offgassing.
Um, and so I believe that it was a Michigan companies.
We had to go up there. We looked at the chamber tests they
were doing, like how high the heat was, everything
to make sure that we would not have that was satisfied.
We then had to do, um, according to the state law, we had
to advertise for a certain period,
I think it was like 90 days,
and we may have even done more in different languages.
We were able to enroll a couple more hundred people into the
program that were not previously identified.
Um, then we started setting up in-home visits.
So we've done all of that.
Um, once we got in there
and figured out, okay, how many windows, how many doors
are we doing, we then put together a bid,
which is being packaged, and we'll be going out.
Now, I will say that we have taken care of close to 400
windows and doors that were over there that were off-gassing
because of mechanical failures as well.
Sure. Yeah. So they had both.
So we have done odor mitigation through the life safety,
you know, we wanted to make sure we got those right away.
And I just thank our airline partners again,
because that was a very, um, uh, uh, uh,
difficult discussion to have with them.
And they offered, and we did pay for that out of our funds
because of the life safety.
As you recall, the manufacturer of the window
that was defective went out of business.
Right. So there was no warranty.
So dealing with that, and we went
and got a bid for warranty services for that, um, as well.
And those were, we were able to effectuate,
I think, close to 400.
Um, we are have all done all the homeowner visits,
and now the bids will go in with the exact things.
And it's being done in three phases, so that we make sure
that we could perhaps get the bid out.
And instead of having to have somebody be at the very end,
we could do them staggered.
So we'll do one in the first quarter, second quarter,
and third quarter to hopefully finish, um,
the entire, uh, uh,
Pool. So in
terms of confirmed off-gassing, um,
I think the first grouping is 700 homes.
Yeah. When is construction scheduled to start?
So I would probably imagine that that would be the summer,
Summer of 2025.
Yeah. Okay.
Now, of course, I, being the CPO
that I formally never forget, um, that depends on us bidding
and we get bidders, and there's not a problem with the bid.
We may have to bid again. And that's what's happened
with some of the, the warranty services.
If you recall, we went out, we didn't get any bidders.
We had to retool it, go back out again.
So we wanna make sure that, you know, the good,
it's a good solid bid, good solid figures,
and that the contractors are able to give us a good bid so
that we're not, you know, having to
Rebid. Is it, is it still the
idea that maybe 200 homes per year,
That's what they were trying to get through?
Okay. Yes. And,
and then you also recall that we now have two noise contour
maps that have been updated both for O'Hare and Midway
and all of the new, I think we've added 200 new homes
that are eligible for brand new soundproofing.
Sure. First time. Um, and it's all Chicago Awards. Right.
And there's a couple hundred folks that will be,
and so we're also doing that,
and we'll be going out for bids with that as well.
Right, right. Um, okay.
And I think just the only standing
relative to Midway, uh, which impacts three wards, 13, 14,
and 23, I think the only outstanding item we need
to do is, is sequence the next 700.
Is that, is that accurate? That's
Right. So the committee,
the first thing that they did was
when they had the entire pool of people,
the committee under the leadership of, um, uh,
representative Kuer said, we need to prioritize these.
Who gets 'em? Is it first that filed
or is it hardship cases?
Right. Right. And so doing that work, the committee went
through a lot of work to get to that point to say, okay,
here is the sequence for the first group
and really focusing on hardships folks maybe, you know,
lived in, in, in Florida in the
winter and couldn't be available.
So could we do it in timing?
So there were a lot of that actual getting in
and finding out what the conditions were for the homeowner
that would allow us to come in.
And so, packaging all of that,
the committee finally settled on the first sequence.
Great. Great. And so I am, uh, I'm eager to sort
of get construction going on these homes.
I'm delighted to, to hear that, that summer of 2025,
we'll finally begin replacing these smelly windows, uh,
for the, the good hardworking people, the Southwest side.
We agree. Um, commissioner, thank you for all your help
and your collaboration. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Thank you, Alder.
Um, next we'll have Alderman, Mosley, FAL, and Rodriguez.
Thank you so much, chair, uh,
commissioner Goode afternoon. Good afternoon.
Uh, I, I will be very brief by saying that B
and t are great.
Um, many thanks to them and wanna shout out you.
And so United was here earlier, uh, the 21st War,
had an Olympian, uh, in our war, who won silver and gold
and Paris recently.
And it was thanks to the help of, uh, your department,
that we got to celebrate her.
Um, I had no idea of how to celebrate an Olympian.
Um, but the Department of Aviation was there through
and through, uh, every step that she took.
Um, and just very, very thankful that we were able
to honor her in a true way, um,
and your department to leadership on that.
So thank you. You,
Thank you. Thank
you, chair. Thank you, uh,
honor Rodriguez. Yes.
Um, thank you so much Mr. Chair.
Absolute pleasure to work with you. Likewise.
Uh, commissioner Reed, look, your staff, um, you know, my,
my ward's a stones throw from Midway Airport,
and I, I gotta say, it's been an absolute pleasure to work
with you, and you've been very responsive, particularly
as it relates to, um, minority contracting.
I, I gotta say, you've put, uh, your work, um,
where the commitment was.
It's, it's right there. Um, and I see it. I feel it.
Um, I disagree with the, the chairman.
I'm very happy to have home run in Midway.
Uh, and they are, oh, the one I was gonna mention. Yes.
Thank you. That's good. Thank you. Thank you.
They are a 22nd ward, multi-generational business,
and there's many others like that.
Um, and, but I do agree with the sentiments about, um,
making those from outside our city, really understand
what our city's about, um,
through their experience at our airports.
And I think you've really taken that to heart.
So it's, it's another, you know, very heartwarming space.
Um, I've got two lines of questions.
Um, one is around, uh, the workforce that I'm asking, uh,
water, transportation and you guys,
and another around how we're dealing with, with,
just essentially with climate change,
um, as it becomes a reality.
Why don't we start there? I think I would assume that our,
there are some impacts in our operations, um, when it comes
to, to, to, to the, to the evolving climate that we're in,
particularly as it relates to climate change,
but then also just environmental climate
as in competition from other entities.
Um, I'm just curious how that changed our operation.
And also, I, I asked this of fleet, I know that, uh,
your department has significant, uh, vehicle operations,
and I'm just curious as to, um,
what's our, what's, what's our strategy on changing
with the times, uh, electrification, um, you know,
working with our, our,
our great leads at O'Hare, like United Mm-Hmm.
And our great leads, like at like Southwest
and midway on, on those types of endeavors.
Yeah. Thank you. Um, sustainability very important to us.
Absolutely. First and foremost in all that we do.
Um, you know, we, we have policies in place all the way down
to goats and llamas that, you know, will, uh, uh, mow areas
for us so that we don't have to get equipment in there
or herbicides or anything like that.
So sustainability for us is, starts at the very core.
Um, we've worked with our concessions
to divert food outta landfills, um, you know, 6,000 tons
of it by opening up, um, different, uh,
facilities within our airports for, for our concessionaires.
Um, you mentioned, um, sustainability also, you know, for,
um, working with Come Ed, to look at
how we can bring down our energy costs
and our carbon footprint is something that, um,
ComEd has been a great partner with us on.
Um, they just finished an entire planning
study over at Midway.
Um, and we'll, we'll start looking to do LED replacements
for lights to bring down the consumption.
Um, over at O'Hare ComEd, we just did, um, a project
with them that, um, was for apron, lightings,
and terminals one and terminal three,
it actually resulted in the reduction of 491 kilowatts
or electrical load, which translated, um, to, uh,
a reduction of $190,000 in costs.
And we ended up getting a rebate for $378,000
just by doing this project with ComEd.
So those are throughout our entire airport.
We also, as far as airports, we lead there too,
think we were the first airport in the country to come out
with a sustainable airport manual.
We called it the sam. It's been updated.
It was for heavy civil projects.
When we were doing OMP, we realized that no one was, um,
actually focusing on civil, it was all, uh, buildings
and lead certified.
So we started working with that.
We were happy just to host airports going green.
We had, uh, airports from around the world come
to Chicago two weeks ago.
Um, and very fortunate to get those best practices
and remain at the forefront of
what we're doing for sustainability.
We couldn't be more pleased
with our air line partners also looking at, you know,
sustainable fuel and,
and we're happy to support them in the infrastructure
that they're gonna need to be able
to deliver, um, these things.
Also, um, in our, uh, building of our airport, all
of the new, uh, linear frontage that will become gates,
we're building them in a very responsible, sustainable way,
which will allow us to accommodate a mix of aircraft.
So in the same, uh, linear footage that you could get,
two small RJs,
you can get a large aircraft, one large aircraft.
So it's much more flexible than the old gates,
which are just designed for one type of aircraft.
Mm-Hmm. Um, so this makes it much more flexible,
and that we can sort of evolve as things evolve.
Um, we know that the planes
that are flying today will not be the same
that will be in the next five, 10 years, um, and beyond.
And so being flexible enough to be able to accommodate that
and work with our partners to build the infrastructure
that they're gonna need, um, is critical to us.
Yeah. And I, and I look at it as competitive advantage
as well, if we're on the forefront of, uh,
strategizing this space.
And I, I really, your, your answer is really illuminating.
I really was just fishing to
understand how you look at this.
And it seems pretty comprehensive.
It's something I'd love to partner with, with you on.
And I know Chair Hadden also would probably say the same,
um, from, from her perspective.
So, uh, to that extent, I love to partner
with you guys in that, in that realm.
Um, just the only other question I had,
I think I emailed you, uh,
some questions if we can get to, to the chair.
Yeah. But just generally for my, for my colleagues,
you know, we're looking, uh, my, my staff is looking, uh,
strategically, um, at the workforce.
Um, you all have significant opportunities, not just
for contractors, but on the workforce side of that as well.
And I was just curious if you can, if you can elaborate
what some of the potential incentives are
that you put into your RFPs on minority, uh, participation,
Chicago participation,
but then also I'm looking creatively at the apprentices,
and, um, I'm wondering if there's any, um, bid incentives
for the hiring of, of apprentices.
Um, and then, you know,
I think there's some other things that I, that I emailed you.
That's, that's fine. Yeah. I would like to hear about
that if there, if there are any. Sure.
So, um, we do have, uh, the, the TAP program
or the terminal area plan, which is the, uh,
global terminal, the tunnel,
and the two satellites is not federally funded,
which is really good news
because it means we get to put all of those bid incentives
that exist at the city, um, into those bids.
So EEO is part of that with laborers, apprentices,
and journey workers, both male and female.
Um, and we track that on our program,
and I can give you those numbers.
Now, I will say that, um, even as CPO, I struggled, um,
with women because that was a very hard population.
It's a very male dominated, uh, industry, still the trades.
And so working with like, um, Jane Villanova from, uh,
Chicago Women in Trades, getting her into the mix, um,
she's been an integral part of how we have tried
to attack this problem.
Um, they partnered up with our P-M-O-C-C-A, which is, uh,
uh, uh, with us as well as Higher 360
and the Women in Trades.
We have a program that's called on the job training, OJT.
Um, that has been an incredible opportunity for, um,
going into the schools, bringing those counselors
and teachers to, I think we had 72 schools that we, um,
took folks and took 'em to all the training centers, um,
to look at how, um, they could get their students involved
and fired up into, you know, perhaps a career in the trades.
Um, what we are trending right now is for the, um,
journey workers and, um, laborers.
We have a 67%, um, uh,
in our journey workers in, in the commitment, um,
apprentices, 13% and laborers are at 20 now.
That's for the, the, the entire pool of it. Out of that.
However, um, the goals are different for male
and female, um, journey workers
and apprentices and laborers.
They're, there's two separate, um, incentives that you take.
Um, we are trending at, um, about 5.6%
of that population is women.
There are three separate goals on there.
It's very complicated. The,
the canvassing formula they call
is, I think it's around seven.
Um, 10 and seven are the three goals. So we're not there.
Um, but we do know that by getting out there,
creating awareness of the career opportunities, working
with our schools, working
with these agencies like Higher 360 RPMO,
and, um, women in Trades, that we can expose them to more
and make sure our C Mars have,
we have four different C Mars now we have the three.
One is federal, so it's a little different
'cause they don't have those on their contract.
It is a local incentive.
Um, but all of them have done robust outreach efforts to try
to help, um, to bridge that gap.
And what we see as, um, the, the female journey workers,
especially when they get to
that higher level, is much lower.
I always appreciate when someone's willing to say, well,
we're not necessarily hitting where we want to be,
but you've proven to me that you're very much committed
to getting there, and you have in many other respects.
So, Kim, the good work,
look forward to continuing to working with you.
I appreciate the time, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Thank you, Al.
Thank you. Uh, before I go on, who all has questions?
I'm trying to,
okay.
Um, we'll go to, um, alderman Scott,
followed by Alderman Wack.
Hello. Good afternoon. Good Afternoon. Uh,
What, I'm sorry.
Wait, wait, what's,
oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, that is your name. I apologize.
I meant heard followed by you. I'm sorry.
Um, Mike touched on, um, one
of my questions about workforce.
I just wanted to ask a little bit about your workforce
programs, and you kind of explained it, how much, um,
so my only question I have is how do we get more
of your workforce programs in the 24th ward?
So, um, thank you. Um, workforce development,
that is our sweet spot.
We love it. We get in that van and we go out
and the kids' eyes just light up like silver dollars.
We have seen real, real progression.
We were just talking about a young woman
that started working with one of our concessionaires.
She as a custodian, she then got a job with the city
as a custodian and said, this isn't the end for me.
I want to join IDOT and be in an apprentice program.
And we worked with Hasia and we got her there.
So we're not, she's not with us anymore.
She's always gonna be part of us, but we don't care if they
end up, we want to get them into that fold to know
that there is a career there.
We are willing to come out any award
night you have any events.
Okay. Um, also, we will bring the van to, you know,
and that's not just for kids.
I mean, it's, it's surprising.
Like sometimes we have to tell the adults
to move over so the kids can get in there.
'cause it's such an incredible just getting, seeing
that and being a part of it.
Um, and so we, we are absolutely willing.
We did 124 events last year.
We have had thousands of children. Okay.
From CPS on our airfield.
We give them tours and, um, you know, one
of our secret weapons, I'll just say at dietary towns,
tha used to work for CPS.
So when she came in to work with us a couple of years ago,
immediately the connection with CPS was drawn
and we started working with those principals.
We started working with the staff to get the kids out,
and we're gonna continue to do that.
We had the bus at every back to school bash.
Um, we do events.
I don't know how many we, and we just,
the good news is we've ordered a new bus.
'cause the old one was pretty tired.
It was a used bus that we converted.
So we got a new one that'll be coming for next year.
And so we're happy to work on any of that with you.
Um, and we can target it too,
if you wanna talk about a certain area.
Um, I also think it's very important for kids
to see people that look like them.
So if you want specific folks
with specific backgrounds, we can do that as well.
Good, good. Um, that, uh, that we can, um, come
and tailor presentations for you.
Okay. We have routinely, we have a,
we'll have a huge outreach event in May the next on the job
training that OJT that we talked about
with those, um, that program.
The next one is in February.
We will get you information on that as well, so
that if you know any, um, young, uh, students
that wanna be involved in that, we can get that.
Or schools, we can put them in the fold.
Um, and so we're always open for ideas.
We wanna cast as wide in that as possible.
Okay. So just if you will, the
Absolutely. We'll follow
Up, have someone just follow up with our office, please.
Thank you. That's it. And thank you guys for your service.
That's all I have. Thank you.
Thank you. Altman. Scott Altman.
Scott Wackers back. Go ahead.
Thank you, chairman. Just trying
to lighten it up on a Friday.
Uh, commissioner, good afternoon.
Good afternoon. Um, first of all, I just want to, uh,
commend you on the work that you've been doing, um,
especially at T five
with the upgrades having used that recently.
Um, one of the issues that we've kind
of talked about in the past is, um, communicating
with US customs
because, uh, you've said that they really are the ones
that are managing, uh, what happens in the airport.
And, um, last time I came back in, you know,
the lines are like literally a mile long, uh,
especially if you have like, I think four
or five flights coming in at the same time.
But, um, I wonder if you could explain
how those communications are going
and how you're managing that, uh, huge overflow
of people coming in and,
and how it, uh, reflects on the reputation of the city.
Yeah, absolutely. And thank you.
Yes, the sterile corridor, as you're entering the,
the country that is controlled by CBP.
Um, and so once you get past that port of entry
and into that luggage, that then you become our passenger.
You're still our passenger when you're on the other side.
But we are obviously subservient to the federal government,
customs and border protection.
Now, the last couple of years, as you know,
we did a substantial renovation about a billion dollars
to T five, and that customs hall was part of that.
So it has been going,
not only did we have really busy summers,
but we were under construction.
So it was, uh, a lot of, of, um, factors
that we're contributing to that.
Um, we are trying to get the word out
and working with them on some PSAs about global entry.
Let's do this so that you can avoid those lines
and make sure people are aware so that we can take people
that don't necessarily need to be in that line.
And we can put 'em in other lines, um, and, uh,
and use technology to move people through.
Um, customs has been completely open on that.
I'm working with some of my other airports.
Um, I comes to mind Jack Potter in, uh, DC working
with him on some of the innovative things that he's doing
to try to work with CBP really on awareness.
Again, going back to that, making folks, um, uh, understand
what that process is
and what they need to have and the forms filled out.
And just making cute little videos
and things like that, that we can help with.
Again, at the end of the day, you know, working also
with staffing to make sure that they have adequate staffing.
Um, that is not something that we're privy to that number.
Um, that is SSI.
So, um, you know, if we do, when I hear
that there are long lines, I will call and talk to them
and they will tell me, yes, we had, you know,
an emergency evacuation on a plane that caused everything
because the fire had to get in there
and remove somebody from a plane, or we had call offs.
People were sick, so we had to condense down.
So there's a lot of different factors,
but we always make sure to call
and find out what was driving that.
Um, and a lot of the concern over the last year
and a half has been construction, but that's done.
And so I think this summer we're gonna see much improved
circulation flow.
You know, we've got new baggage
handling systems, which help.
So lots of improvements.
And one of the things you mentioned to me,
I think it was about a year
and a half ago, was, uh, the prior time I had that issue,
um, talking about ambassadors that you wanted
to bring on board to talk to people
as they are standing in line, as they're coming in.
And have you been able to make any headway on that?
We now have, um, 15 ambassadors, um, uh,
which is, it's funny 'cause that's
where I started at my career, um, you know, 31 years ago.
Um, and they speak 15 different languages.
So, um, very excited about that
because it is nothing like touching someone in their own
language and maybe comforting people
and letting them know that this is, we had instances
where people were standing in the wrong
line, um, just didn't know.
And so helping with that, um,
and giving that service is something,
especially in the busy times where, you know,
you see from about two o'clock
to like five o'clock at T five, they all come in
to see the flights from overseas come in.
Um, Europe, European flights come
in all around the same time.
So we do have, um, a surge.
And so making sure that we have adequate city,
not volunteers, so that we know that we can rely on them,
and that we know that we can put appropriate
languages there as well.
So we know where the flights are coming from
and match that up with our speakers.
Excellent. Um, so, uh, one of the big areas
that I've seen an increase in, uh, contracting, uh,
specifically on rentals, IT professional services.
Um, on one page,
I was looking at 4 78 for the recommendations.
You had $60 million increase loan there,
and then there's a, a smattering of other areas
that have a huge increase in it.
Can you discuss with us, um, more specifically
what those are related to
and how they would, uh, improve services?
So, um, two of those big drivers, about $12 million
of that is automated.
Um, it's a parking revenue control system
for our parking, um, facilities.
That's about 12 million of that.
Another 11 million is gonna go to the operation
of our eight, our airport transit system, the, the train
that connects between the intermodal and,
and all the terminals.
Um, so those are big two big increases there.
But I'm happy to get through the chair exactly where,
um, what makes that up. If you or I could
Go, uh, that would be better. Yep.
I think it, yeah, sure. Absolutely.
And I, I know, uh, you know, we had that, uh, what was the
sort of the summer cyber attack?
It was, uh, yes. Or actually it was more the
CrowdStrike CrowdStrike Yes.
Failure. Does that have, does that also address some
of those improvements or,
So we are currently, we have a bid in procurement now, um,
for an IT PMO.
Um, one of the things that we realize is we have
so many disparate systems that yeah, maybe not talk
to each other with downtown correctly,
making sure we're tracking the right thing, using the best
of of technology.
Um, and so this it, PMO is,
and we did that by the way, target market.
So only minority and women owned businesses could apply.
We have flipped many contracts that way and,
and have more than ever, uh, use that target market
as a way to build capacity.
But that particularly, we are close, I think, to getting to
where we will be able to onboard somebody next year
and they'll be able to take all these systems
and look at where we need to, to continue to improve
and things that we can do.
And then also, I would say we are, obviously Nick Lucius
and his team are integrally involved in all the cyber.
Um, everything that we do at, at, at for it, um, would,
would be in, uh, uh, cooperation with them.
We've also started, as our new buildings are coming online,
um, that we're planning for the OGT and
and S one, we're looking at
what we can do there technology wise as well, working
with Nick and his team, um, to, and, and,
and two fm the facilities to look at how we wanna make sure
that it is a city owned facility.
We own this airport.
We need to make sure that we're outfitting it for the future
and, and have that flexibility in mind
as new things come on.
Excellent. And then, um, finally, um, you know,
in your recent Bond offering, you had a pretty incredible,
uh, rating that came out of that.
Yeah. Which I think reflects the way your team
and your leadership kind of managed the airport.
So I want to commend you on that.
And then, you know, within this I saw, uh,
other issues like a reserve balance.
Does that, is that tied to that bond offering that it, it's,
it's in there due to, um,
bring those funds in not having spent them all yet? Or
What is that? So the reserves,
there is A-A-U-L-A provision
that we were not, uh, cash on hand
and things like we were not where we should have been.
And so, oh, okay. When the A ULA came in, it was a gradual
increase over many years,
but the bond was 986 million of that was
to support the ongoing projects
that we've got for construction.
And then the 1.56 billion was refunding,
which resulted in $125 million of savings.
Um, that's gonna reduce debt service, obviously, which works
to bring down rates and charges for our airline partners.
Uh, so they actually benefit directly,
They benefit greatly from the $25 million in savings.
And I will say that we have been very fortunate
that last several CFOs have done just that.
Yeah. Look at opportunities to get the market
to do refunding and putting that right back into rates
and charges, which was so important during covid.
We used all of our federal money
to the greatest extent possible, as well as doing some
of those refundings to keep those rates low.
Excellent. Okay. Well, commissioner, thank you very much
for all your efforts there.
And, um, thank you be for being
so open when I do have strange questions, you know,
when you're sitting there in lines
and, um, you, you know, that airport inside
and out or both of 'em.
So I appreciate all the effort your whole team puts into it
and, uh, continue to do the great work.
Thank you very much. Thank you, chairman. Thank you,
Alderman. Thank you.
Alam. Wa strike, uh, alderman Moore,
honor Gutierrez, you have any
questions? Alderman Moore, go ahead.
Thank you, chairman. Uh, I appreciate you, commissioner.
I'm gonna come back to you, but as you look over in
that booth, you have an embarrassing of riches, um, over
that, not only in talent of people,
but a few, one, a few booths that when I look over there,
I see the city of Chicago, I see the representation
of the city of Chicago and,
and not only in, in who you have over there in that booth,
but also in the works that all my, uh,
colleagues have been talking about in terms of contracting.
And I'll come back to that, um, later.
I'm gonna take a different spin over this
with this embarrassment of, which is
because you a beast by yourself.
But for you, um, to have a deputy commissioner,
Dwayne c Colonel, Dwayne Hay, Colonel Hay on your team is,
is just, I mean, just amazing.
He's that quiet storm
that I don't think people in this body knows, um, the work,
um, that he's doing, um, to, uh, to assist you and,
and take some of the load, um, off of you
and what we do in, um,
the city in terms of government.
Our work is excellent and I'm glad it is.
But, um, Colonel Hatton, if you can just speak to me,
are you still, um, involved outside with the Doro chapter
of Tuskegee, um, airmen?
And if so, if so, or even if you're not
or how, if you have, um, how are you making sure that some
of those young people get opportunities in, um, aviation?
So speak on that part in terms of your involvement
and then, um, helping our young people.
Well, thank you Alderman. Uh, it means a lot. Your salute
To my military service
and my current position as first deputy.
I am honored and proud to serve with a elite group
for this awesome commissioner and this mayor
and the distinguished body to that.
The, a adult chapter is still strong. The legacy continues.
I'm gonna put a concept together
and I'll make sure you're invited for a black history month
that we salute the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, continue
to outreach and promote aviation
and aerospace careers to youth in the Chicagoland area.
Uh, the scholarships that we have, the Tuskegee Next,
where we're giving the kids their pilot's license
and drone license, all of that is in motion.
And our work with Aero Stars, with Tamara Holmes,
God bless her, uh, continue.
So, um, to you
and to this body, I guarantee you I will send out some
information on the work that we're currently doing
and continuing that legacy.
Thank you. Alright.
Thank you so much, much.
Um, and I know people was talking about the workforce
and the, um, contract,
and I just want to really give a, um, big shout out.
I, I, I guess you can't get tired
of people when they're proactive
and when they're coming to you.
'cause then you don't have to go to them
and you like, man, I can't even say nothing
because they, they're holding me accountable.
And, um, criteria town, she's just in terms of, uh,
making sure we got information about job fairs,
making sure we got information to reach out to people, um,
about construction fairs to make sure our people, um,
from our communities are there is
bar none the best in this city.
And so embarrassing that she follows up
with me, did you do this?
I'm like, come on now.
So, um, um, and then, um, that's a good thing.
'cause sometimes in our business we forget.
We try to make sure our staff is doing what they supposed
to do, but the fact that she does that, um, that really, um,
means a lot to me.
And, um, I just appreciate, um, her so much.
And also, um, your chief administration officer,
Tracy Payne, I mean, like you say, you just got a, um,
embarrassment of, um, riches.
I'm just finding out, um, that the Great Castile
Castillo is going over to workforce development.
If, if you want to iterate on it
or if she wanna talk about it, what are some of the things,
um, she's looking to enhance there
or some of the goals she she's looking to meet there
or that you set up for her?
Um, or that she want to meet that she wants to answer to it,
um, in workforce development.
Great, thank you. Yes.
So I think what our challenges and what costal
and I have talked about, um, uh, as well as Renee, um, Neely
that works for costal, um, is the continuum.
So we need to start in pre-K we need to get kids.
We have those books. A is for airport,
so how are we reaching?
And one of my, um, uh, things that I have on my list
and Castelli is to work with BACP on our delegate agencies.
We fund a lot of different organizations, the city does.
So we wanna make sure that we're
handing out out free coloring books.
Right now we've started, but getting these activity books,
getting the interest into pre-K then you get into like the
activity books, which are, you know, kindergarten
through third, fourth grade.
But then we need to start this next to me,
the next vital group of young people that we need.
Is that like fifth grade before they get into high school?
That mm-Hmm. That area there.
So one of the things that, um, we're gonna challenge
that group to come up with is an aviation club.
So we, we celebrate different industry
or different profession professions within our industry.
There's the engineers, there's the architects.
But what we don't really focus on, again, is that building
that pipeline of, that those youth to get them into a club
so that they're able to build lifelong networking
relationships with each other.
They're able to, um,
tell each other about events that they know about.
We can bring them into some
of the national organizations that we work with.
There are scholarships available, like a CI,
which is Airport Council International,
and then a a e, which are two national organizations, right?
Us travel that, that we pay for.
So we wanna make sure that we're bringing all
of those resources to the youth.
And I think that area is something.
We've got the high schools that we're working with,
we've got the young kids,
but it's that population there
that we really need to start attracting.
And I think an aviation club would be a, a good thing
to have tours of the airport meeting, quarterly meeting
with us, getting those resources and,
and hearing from them, right.
Um, how we can help them get
and attained their goals of a career in
Aviation. And I think Symon
is trying to already have one in terms of,
um, uh, aviation department.
I knew they were working on one.
I don't, I can't remember if they finalized it or not.
And if so, just make sure we're reaching out to Symon
and make sure we're doing that.
The managing deputy commissioner,
chief development officer is vacant now, correct?
Or has it is in the book or has it been fulfilled?
Yes, it's vacant. Currently it will be filled 12 one.
We do have 12 internal from the city.
Okay. And, um, I'm looking at your equity dashboard
and both hiring and, um, I mean, it's just a reflection of
what your contracting it is.
I don't have any question on that.
I just wanna highlight it in terms of, I'm like,
I'm seeing the numbers there
and I, I like, I, I just like
what I'm seeing in terms of that.
So, um, the other thing, I,
there's two more things I wanna point out.
One, um, uh, when we do focus on bringing, um,
um, African American, um, contractors
and people in, i I, I wanna give a shout out
to Hyde Park Hospitality, uh,
and what they're doing, they, uh,
brought a Chick-fil-A there I think in T five
and, uh, uh, what is called Half Moon Empanada and T three.
And, but the, here's the, and
Midway Club midway And, and here's the exciting part.
65 employees,
and of that 65, 52 80% are African American.
And so that's, that's why that matters.
And I wanted to make sure we put that on record.
My last thing, and it's important
because, uh, you may you remind me
a little bit about myself.
You of course, started out as just in customer service.
Uh, I'm not gonna ask you on record,
but you were probably making $19 an hour at aviation.
17. 17. So I was out.
Uh, and and you're a very humble person,
but I'm gonna have to put you on the spot to take you out
of your humility.
And, and, and I don't think people know.
There's this person they call EF Hutton.
They used to say, when, when EF Hutton talks, people listen.
Uh, I, I was also reminded,
I don't know if you remember Janet Abraham's from the
Chicago Housing Authority, one
of the premier people in the Chicago Housing
Authority, she's in Newark work.
We lost her. I hated the fact that Chicago lost her.
Um, she's been in Newark work Baltimore again,
when Janet Abraham talk, everybody, listen, when it comes
to, um, public housing, tell us about,
because I know already when you are at conferences
and your places, and you're getting not only just awards,
but when you have to present, people are stopping
to listen to Jamie Reed.
Please. You have to, because I don't think the city
or, um, many probably people in his body grasp that.
So it's gonna take you outta your comfort zone.
I know it because you're so humble
and you share all the spotlight with your team.
But I need you, and I really need you to step outside of
that, con that zone
and talk about some of those conferences that you attend
and how important your voice is there.
Wow. Um, thank you Alderman.
Um, you know, it is, it is an honor
and a privilege to serve this great city.
Um, I have very honest about my background
and where I come from and,
and that the city is, is the reason why I am sitting here.
And it's why I've never left.
It's been so good to me that I feel like I have to,
to pay it back every day.
Um, and I am surrounded, as you said, I am surrounded
by such incredibly passionate people at our airport
that care that wanna do.
Right. Um, it is something to, you know, we are,
our airports are obviously front and center for the nation.
Um, we're the second busiest in the country at O'Hare in
terms of operations.
And I remind Atlanta all the time that they don't have snow.
So we move planes, we move it, whether they're six feet
of snow, whether there's whatever, we move planes.
And that is a true testament to the folks that are out there
and what they do every day.
Um, you know, how they performed,
I heard from our air carriers, uh, that they were,
that they had never seen, uh, a team so focused
and delivering results as they did.
Now, it wasn't big, but it was bigger than we thought the
snowstorm that we had the other day.
So incredible. But it's one thing when,
when you start looking at other airports
and being out there, and I'm very fortunate
that I am currently serving as the vice chair
for North America for a CI airports,
and we'll take the role of chair next year.
Mm. That's an incredible honor for me that my colleagues,
thank you, thank
you, thank you.
That my colleagues, um, across the,
the country would think of me that way.
And, um, and that they would give me that, um, position
and platform to really brag about
how great our airports are.
Um, I thought it was, it was extremely,
extremely important being part of these organizations
and serving as vice chair, I was the policy chair
before that with FAA reauthorization that just went in huge.
Um, thanks to our federal delegation, senators Duckworth
and Durbin and, and entire Illinois congressional delegation
for the work that they did to, to increase money available
and look at streamlining.
And that's where, like me,
coming from a procurement background,
having served in real estate, having been at the airport
three times, literally bringing all those experiences is
something that, um, I could share
with my colleagues from across the country about looking at
procurement reform and
how do we deliver these benefits faster,
and how we were able to accomplish a lot of this in Chicago,
um, through bid incentives and different things.
So that platform is incredibly, I am, I am humbled every day
that, um, I am in the, the, the midst
of such incredible leaders that, um, I again,
am very grateful and very thankful for this opportunity.
No, thank you for sharing that.
Because if, if when we start looking at airport
and they talk, number one
and number two, understand whoever is, uh,
at number one at any given time or at number two
or at number three is
because they are getting the information,
they are getting the professionalism from Chicago
and Jamie Ree and I, and and I, and I know that for a fact.
And I was glad, I'm glad you're able to share that,
and I just appreciate you are ours here in Chicago and,
and as, uh, alderman, um,
OSHA said the alderman osha to my right.
Um, um, I, I, uh, we, we cannot, if you want to,
if you choose to at any time on your
own, we gotta respect that.
But you're someone we cannot afford, um,
to lose in this city. So thank you so much.
Thank you, alderman. Thank you Alderman Moore.
Uh, any other questions? Alderman?
Manna, Howorth, you have Mana,
mana Howorth. I'm sorry. Thank
You. Thank you, chair.
You
Didn't, if you didn't have any It's okay.
I did not. But since you, uh, mentioned my name. Oh, okay.
Alright. I would like to say hello commissioner
and, uh, thank you to your team and everyone in the box.
And, uh, I had the pleasure of, uh, visiting Terminal five
and it was incredible experience.
Thank you so much for taking me around
and making me feel very welcome.
I was very proud to see one
of my local businesses from Edgewater,
they're Metropolis Coffee doing so well, um,
helping them with their ribbon cutting.
And I know that I feel like,
and maybe it's true that they're the number one,
number one coffee seller in the, in the airport right now.
Yep. Incredible. And so that, that's the kind of opportunity
that we would like to see more of in Chicago.
And, um, thank you so much for your work.
Thank you to everybody on your team.
Thank you. Thank you Alderman. Uh, any other questions?
Um, I'm gonna close with this, this, uh, real quick, uh,
I saw your FTE count, uh, ticked up by 76 foot.
Is there, was, was there a specific class of, uh,
individuals you guys added to the team?
Um, so we, half of our new, uh, uh, vacancies
that, or that we've added are
for the assos, those airport security
Offices. Oh, okay. Security. Okay.
Got it. Okay.
And I see that, is the general laborer a new title in your,
um, in your, in your group?
Yeah, and so we are working right now with hr.
We just got a call on this. So we are looking at that.
We are currently have, I wanna say 15 different vacancies
that we're looking, and it's, it's a matter of
what they call perhaps in one department general laborer.
Then we're working through that with HR right now.
But we have vacancies that we are planning to, to, um, work
with HR because we do understand
that there may be some other movement around the city.
So, okay. Um, but I don't know that that's a new title
in the city perhaps with us
in the be are you aware the union? Yes. Yeah,
With the union. Okay. Because
it seemed like it was coming in at a lower
rate than what I would traditionally expect,
or a normal like 10 0 1 laborer
or some something of that nature.
So just, just curious about that.
Uh, you guys, uh, just keep, uh, performing
and doing what needs to occur.
I will say this, uh, as it relates to the diversity
and, uh, what we've seen, uh, according to, uh, Cheryl Shea,
uh, the diversity with the Sea Mars, and,
and bringing, uh, additional, uh, people
that haven't had an opportunity to be out at the airport,
uh, I think you guys are, are doing positive work there.
We just want to continue keeping, uh, making sure
that we're advancing those opportunities
for small local businesses as well
as on the concession side.
Uh, we, this is Chicago.
We've got some of the best culinary minds and,
and greatness in the country
and matter of fact in the world.
Um, so, uh, we, we definitely wanna showcase those
'cause the airport is the, uh, window, uh, to our city.
'cause a lot of people never leave the airport, uh,
to get a sample of what's going on in Chicago.
So I think it's always good to see, uh, where we are from,
you know, just a cultural aspect and,
and the like, uh, as well as the work with our young people,
getting them interested in aviation.
Uh, you guys are, you know, um, if you all were a,
a city unto yourself, you, you'd be probably the second
or third largest city in the, uh, in the state.
So there's a lot of economic activity out there.
We just wanna make sure that economic activity is going
to be beneficial to all of Chicago.
And, uh, I think you guys are moving in the right direction,
uh, on that particular, in that particular case.
Uh, with that being said, uh, we are, we will stand at ease
until Monday, December 2nd.
We will convene after city council.
So whatever time that is, uh, we will convene.
We're scheduled for 10 o'clock,
however, we have a city council meeting scheduled
for 10 o'clock on Tuesday.
We will convene after, um, city council
or any other committee, uh, business that needs
to occur on that date.
Um, so with that being said,
we are we'll be, we'll stand at ease.
We also have, um, uh, lunch upstairs.
You all please feel free to join us for lunch.
Um, and, uh, we will, uh, we'll see you upstairs.
Thank you, you chairman.