Live reporting by
Parker Garlough
George Blakemore said that many people he has seen comment in previous meetings are not here, which disappointed him. "This is how government is supposed to happen... we are dealing with millions of dollars."
"I'm here to speak about my loved one, Ramon Banks, who has been wrongfully detained in Cook County Jail for a year," the next speaker said. She said two police officers had planted a weapon on him and falsified their police report to indicate a confession.
DWM Commissioner Randy Conner, in response to a question from Alderperson O'Shea about aging infrastructure: "Roseland pumping station was built in 1912. We've done some upgrades, but we're always looking for what else needs to be done."
"We're looking at billions of dollars of upgrades. We're looking at whether it makes sense to repair them or just start fresh," so they're doing an infrastructure assessment to determine this at each pumping station.
O'Shea: "Is there a plan to get some of that money back" from delinquent water payments? How much money is it? Conner: "It's around $600 million that we're working to try to recover. We're working with the finance team."
O'Shea: 120 municipalities get their water through us. Can we talk about how we're retaining them and the Joliet pipeline? Conner: "Those are moving forward, a little bit behind schedule."
Chairperson Pat Dowell: "There were drastic (~$30 million) cuts to the Bureau of Water Supply, and you created this new division for pumping station. Is that just a renaming of a department?" Conner: "Yes, to give us a truer cost of our pumping."
Dowell: "How do you plan to fill your 372 vacancies? How many do you expect to fill in in 2025? Can any vacant positions be cut?" Conner: "We hire about 200 people a year, to counter our aging workforce and those that move on after gaining experience."
Conner: "We're doing a study to make sure we have the right number of people in the right places and the right titles." He expects the study to be complete second quarter of 2025.
Chairperson Gil Villegas: "We're number one in the country for lead service lines... We're competing with other municipalities for $20-$30 billion of grants from the federal government." Chicago is receiving $14 million in 2025, "as a first installment" of foreseen future grants.
That $14 million is out of $230 million allocated to the state of Illinois, Conner said. Villegas: If the state issued a mandate to fix the lead pipes, and we're not even getting 10% of their money, we need to get more aggressive in Springfield.
Conner: Because "aquafers are starting to dry up downstate," several municipalities are interested in purchasing water from Chicago. "We're in constant conversation with all of our suburban customers."
Alderperson Nicole Lee: "How many water test kits were requested [by Chicago residents? What languages are they available in?" She did not get an immediate answer but will be followed up with later.
Chairperson Jeanette Taylor: Why don't we cut off water for municipalities that owe millions of dollars, but we cut off a resident's water once they owe $2,000? Conner: "If I can recall, we haven't done any water shutdowns since COVID. If we did, they were for sanitary issues."
Taylor: "Are you still going to schools and bringing students down to see the water facilities?" Conner: "Yes, if there's a tour, we absolutely accommodate that."
Alderperson Emma Mitts: "There's one thing on my mind, and that's the flood that occurred two years ago. What are you doing to alleviate that?"
Conner: "I wasn't there for the 2023 flood, but I was there for the 2024 flood." After the 2023 flood, DWM did $1.6 million of work. The number of standing water calls went from 7,000 standing water calls in the 2023 flood to 700, "so we know it's working."
Alderperson Byron Sigcho-Lopez: "Might there be federal funding changes that will affect our ability to perform at a local level? How are we shifting our priorities in anticipation?"
Conner: "Until they come down, I can't concern myself with that. I have to keep pushing with all the work we need to get done."
Sigcho-Lopez: "What demographics do you have in the department? Broken down into levels of management as well." Conner: "Our department is 96% union. White 41%, Black 35%, Hispanic 22%, Asian 2%, multiple races 1%, Native American 0%, 1% no data."
Conner: Most of our municipalities that we sell water to consistently pay on time. There are four that have not, and I cannot comment much on them because they are in litigation.
Sigcho-Lopez: "How can we make water bills more equitable to seniors and low-income families?" Conner: "That's an ongoing conversation. There's no silver bullet. We have to speak to the comptroller and make sure any solutions are sustainable for years to come."
Conner: "I think Chicago does a good job of maintaining the water rates we have. We're the second or third lowest in the country."
Conner: "Many of the trees in Chicago are not urban trees. They were planned 100, 150 years ago when nobody could fathom what the city of Chicago would look like today... As you plant more trees suited for urban environment, the roots don't grow out, they grow down."
Conner, in response to a question about DuPage potentially disconnecting from the Chicago water system: "We have been in constant communication trying to understand their intentions. They have signed a 17-year contract extension."
"We've been talking about what it would take to keep them on our system: cost of service, pumping system maintenance. We're making great progress. If we're transparent, I don't think we'll have any issues."
Alderman Scott Waguespack: "As we see more development throughout a lot of the areas we provide water to, water conservation is a huge issue. In your discussions with everyone, what other conservation issues are being discussed?"
Alderperson Jason Ervin: "Where are we on equity-based lead pipe changes at/near daycares?" Conner: "We're hoping to do 600 replacements in that category next year," which will cost ~$7.6 million from the CDBG fund.
Alderperson Gilbert Villegas: Have we considered issuing an RFI and having industry people coming to us to introduce what technology they have? Conner: "Absolutely. We've put it on the companies to talk to IEPA and make sure their product is compliant." epa.illinois.gov
epa.illinois.gov
Alderperson Nicole Lee: "Often, folks come into the ward office after getting a water meter put in that says 'you owe $5,000 from ther period when your water meter was broken.' How does the city know?" Conner: "We take the average of the next few readings after the replacement."
Lee: "How are we ensuring competition between contractors keeps prices down? Do we ever have only one bidder?" Conner: "Absolutely... there aren't a lot of contractors that can do water main work or sewer work."
Conner praised the effectiveness of his department's staff, saying their work often goes unnoticed.
The committee is taking a 5 minute break and will return to discuss the Department of Aviation.
Department of Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee: Because airport concessions are a federal program, we are not allowed to specifically require or incentivize local restaurants, but we are working around that to increase the proportion of local vendors.
"The mayor has been very clear from the beginning that casting a wide net and getting the youth involved [with aviation-related employment] is important."
Rhee: "Since 2018, we've increased our parking spaces by 16%," which requires increased staffing.
The department is adding 110 positions, primarily in safety and security.
O'Shea: "What is the timeline on replacing airport windows?" Rhee is summarizing the past process but has not yet stated a future timeline.
After O'Shea repeated his question, Rhee said it would likely occur in the summer, but it would depend on bidding.
Rodriguez asked about the department's climate plan. Rhee listed sustainability measures including food waste reduction, working with ComEd to reduce energy usage, LED lights, and using goats to clear vegetation rather than mowing.
Moore praised the Department of Aviation's staff. "I see the city of Chicago in you."