TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF MAY 1, 2014
COMMITTEE ON Procurement
Mr. David St. Pierre, Executive Director
Title
Authorization for payment to DuPage River/Salt Creek Workgroup for membership dues in an amount not to exceed $66,661.00, Account 101-15000-612280.
Body
Dear Sir:
Authorization is requested to make payment to the DuPage River/Salt Creek Workgroup (DRSCW) for the District's membership dues in the amount of $66,661.00. The term of the District's membership is March 1, 2014 through February 28, 2015.
The Board of Commissioners authorized the District to become a member of the DRSCW on April 6, 2006. The DRSCW's purpose is to find less costly methods of complying with the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) goals issued in 2005 by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and approved by Region V of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The DRSCW is also committed to reducing pollution loadings by water reclamation plants (WRPs) along the courses of the DuPage River and Salt Creek, which includes the Egan and Hanover Park WRPs. The IEPA has been very receptive to initiatives and recommendations made by the DRSCW, which has worked tirelessly to foster partnerships with non-governmental organizations, municipalities, and the regulatory community. All agencies with treatment plants discharging to the streams in the DRSCW area are members of the group.
The DRSCW maintains a monitoring program for review of area TMDLs and works closely with the IEPA to improve them. For example, when the TMDL development for the watersheds was reviewed in 2009, the DRSCW made a number of suggestions for improving the analysis. As a result, sediment oxygen demand analysis was dropped from the program. The accuracy of the TMDLs is essential to making sound decisions regarding environmental and financial resources. Due to DRSCW's identified projects, which have improved dissolved oxygen, the IEPA has not enforced the recommendations of the 2004 Dissolved Oxygen TMDL for Salt Creek.
In addition to coordinating area TMDL implementation, the DRSCW has continued working with IEPA to ensure that future local spending makes real progress towards achieving Clean Water Act goals. Draft special condition language for local agency National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits has been given to the IEPA for consideration. These special conditions would allow members to target local priority projects to enhance aquatic life while drafting a plan to meet a future phosphorous removal target in a rational manner. Should the USEPA and IEPA agree to this proposal, the project assessments may be due as soon as March 2015.
The DRSCW hosts several very successful chloride reduction workshops each year, some attended by District staff, to work towards compliance with the 2004 chloride TMDL.
The DRSCW operates eight dissolved oxygen monitoring stations in Salt Creek, three in the West Branch and five in the East Branch of the DuPage River. The DRSCW has multiple sample sites in Cook County; at these sites, water column chemistry and biology are measured every three years. The District contributes water quality data, acquired for District purposes, and technical expertise to this program.
The District continues to benefit from the DRSCW's efforts related to providing watershed condition assessments and identifying the most cost-effective solutions for stream impairment in watersheds that include the Egan and Hanover Park WRPs.
Inasmuch as the DRSCW membership is not available through any other source, nothing would be gained by advertising for bids (Section 11.4 of the Purchasing Act).
It is hereby recommended that the Board of Commissioners authorize payment, by direct voucher, to the DRSCW in an amount not to exceed $66,661.00. Funds are available in Account 101-15000-612280.
Requested, Eileen M. McElligott, Administrative Services Manager, BKS:SL:WG:JMS:TG
Recommended, Darlene A. LoCascio, Director of Procurement and Materials Management
Respectfully Submitted, Barbara J. McGowan, Chairman Committee on Procurement
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for May 1, 2014