The City Council approved an updated preliminary agreement with the City of Joliet to provide Lake Michigan drinking water for the next 100 years. In late January, the Joliet City Council voted to select the Chicago Department of Water Management (DWM) as their provider after more than two years of research into possible suppliers. Joliet’s current water source may dry up by 2030. The Chicago Dept. of Water Management will begin supplying Joliet in 2030 after Joliet builds a $600-800 million infrastructure pipeline needed to connect to the system, including a 31-mile pipeline and upgrades to the Southwest Pumping Station.
This agreement is projected to generate between $24-37 million in new water revenues annually beginning in 2030 and approximately $1 billion of present value to the City over 100 years. The final water supply agreement is expected to be approved by October 31, 2021.
The Council passed an ordinance to change and strengthen the role of the Board of Health, add diversity requirements to the board and increase public comment. The Board of Health will align practices with the existing municipal code and actions of the Chicago Dept. of Public Health. The ordinance also establishes three-year terms of office (though not term limits),making it more consistent with other City boards and commissions in Chicago as well as the rest of the country. These are the first major changes to the Board in years, and the Board was first created in the 1830's to fight the cholera epidemic.
Together with several aldermen, Mayor Lightfoot proposed an ordinance that would place a surcharge on permits for the demolition of buildings with residential units in the area surrounding the Bloomingdale Trail (The 606) and Pilsen Pilot areas. The 606-Pilsen Demolition Permit Surcharge ordinance follows the Anti-Deconversion Ordinances for the same areas passed by City Council during the January 2021 meeting. The ordinance hopes to stem displacement of low-to moderate-income residents in two-to eight-unit buildings that often provide naturally occurring affordable housing units.
The Chicago City Council today voted to confirm Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot’s nomination of Nancy C. Andrade to serve as Commissioner of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations(CCHR). Commissioner Andrade will lead the City in the enforcement of the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance and the Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance.