TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF DECEMBER 3, 2015
COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRIAL WASTE AND WATER POLLUTION
Mr. David St. Pierre, Executive Director
Title
Authority to enter into an amendment of the intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources revising the deadline for disbursement of the District’s $500,000.00 for green infrastructure projects
Body
Dear Sir:
On June 18, 2015, the Board of Commissioners authorized the District to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (“IGA”) with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (“IDNR”) to participate in the Chi-Cal Rivers Fund (“Fund”). The IDNR is the state administrative agency charged with conservation of aquatic life in Illinois, and it is authorized “to accept, receive, expend, and administer, including by grant, agreement, or contract, those funds that are made available to the Department from the federal government and other public and private sources in the exercise of its statutory powers and duties” (20 ILCS 805/805-70(a)).
Per the terms of the IGA, the District has contributed $500,000.00 to the IDNR, which in turn is making grants to the Fund for green infrastructure projects in the Chicago Area Waterway System.
The IGA includes a “Termination” clause which originally allowed the District to recoup any unspent portion of its contribution by January 31, 2017 if the IDNR fails to grant, or the Fund fails to spend, any portion of the District’s contribution by January 1, 2017. Thereafter, IDNR requested that this date be extended to August 31, 2017 but subsequently determined that a disbursement deadline of October 31, 2017 with a corresponding refund deadline of November 30, 2017 is needed in order to avail itself of two full field seasons for developing green infrastructure projects.
If the Termination clause is not amended to reflect the proper deadlines, the IGA will terminate prematurely, thus forcing the IDNR to refund the unspent portions of the District’s contribution prior to the Fund’s disbursement of that money for green infrastructure projects.
Based on the foregoing, the Law Department recommends that the Board authorize the following:
1) the District to enter into an amendment of the IGA with the IDNR to revise the deadlines in the termination clause as set forth above; and
2) the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, the Executive Director, and the Clerk to execute said amendment of the IGA on behalf of the District, upon approval by the General Counsel as to form and legality.
Requested, Ronald M. Hill, General Counsel, RMH:LLD:BO'C:nm
Recommended, David St. Pierre, Executive Director
Respectfully Submitted, David J. Walsh, Chairman Committee on Industrial Waste and Water Pollution
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for December 3, 2015