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Home My Public Portal AboutApril 2016 - CBA AgendaMetropolitan Si. Louis Sewer District COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT (CBA) MEETING AGENDA ITEMS Friday, April 22, 2016, 3:00 p.m. 2350 MARKET STREET, ST LOUIS MO 1ST FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM #109 CBA Signatory Group & Representatives CORE — Jesse Lofton CBTU — Lew Moye MCC —Rev. Charles Brown MCU — James Sahaida MOKAN — Yaphett El Amin MSD — Brian Hoelscher M-SLICE — Romona Williams NAACP City Branch — Adolphus Pruitt NAACP County Branch — John Gaskin II NSBE — Wayne Jones UAPO — Zaki Baruti 1. Roll Call 2. Public Comments 3. Approval of May 27, 2015 Meeting Minutes 4. Closed Session To Discuss Legal, Confidential or Privileged Matters Under Section 610.021(1) 5. Adjournment COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT (CBA) Draft Meeting Minutes Meeting On May 27, 2015 at 1:00 pm MSD Headquarters, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103 Signatory Attendees: CBTU, MCU, MOKAN, NAACP, NSBE (via conference call) and MSD (Attendance sheet attached) 1. There were no new introductions. 2. Roll Call • Signatories present at the opening of the meeting were: CBTU, MCU, NAACP, MOKAN, NSBE and MSD (Quorum). 3. There were no public comments. 4. Meeting Minutes from February 25, 2015, were unanimously approved. 5. MSD gave an overview of its actions to fulfill the Section VII Education and Internship portion of the CBA requirements. First, MSD provided the update on the internship program. MSD is partnering with the St. Louis Internship Program (SLIP) to acquire three (3) disadvantaged minority students who will partake in an 8 week internship at the Market location of MSD. Two of the interns will be assigned to MSD's IT Department, and the remaining student will be assigned to the Diversity Department. CBTU inquired if SLIP reached out to faith -based schools along with public schools. MSD responded that SLIP does not work with faith -based schools. MOKAN inquired as to why MSD is only able to host three (3) internships. MSD responded that the budgetary capacity only allows for three (3) interns. In response, MOKAN requested that MSD contact the Private Sector/Professional Services affiliates who work with MSD in an effort to recruit those businesses in the utilization of SLIP's program to provide internships to minority and disadvantaged workers. Second, MSD provided an update on the scholarships MSD is providing for the Environmental Resources Training Center (ERTC) program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). The MSD Scholarship will provide $3,500 towards tuition cost for each student while attending the ERTC program. The scholarship funding will be available for two (2) students each school year. Furthermore, MSD will fund the internship cost for the (2) scholarship students who are required to participate in a 5 week internship at an MSD treatment as a requirement for the completion of the ERTC program. MSD's General Counsel Office found no legal problems with a public entity having a scholarship program with a race -based preference as long as it is based upon evidence of past discrimination. MSD will partner with SLATE and SLIP to reach program candidates. They will also coordinate with high school career counselors, SIUE, MERS Goodwill, Job Core, and other various agencies in an effort to reach May 27, 2015 CBA Meeting Page 1 disadvantaged students and GED graduates. NAACP inquired as to whether MSD had any information available on the past demographics for the ERTC Program at SIUE. MSD responded that no information on that subject was collected/requested from SIUE, but that the students MSD is targeting for the scholarship opportunity are from the St. Louis Public Schools. CBTU inquired as to whether the potential scholarship winners need to me any requirements. MSD responded that the students eligible to receive the scholarship are disadvantaged students as stated in the CBA. NAACP inquired as to whether the First Source Hiring candidates are being targeted. CJ from SLATE responded that they have sent out fliers regarding the scholarship opportunity, but that he does not believe the information has been sent to those on their Journeyman List. MOKAN inquired as to why the scholarship is only being offered to two (2) students per school year. MSD responded that due to limited funding available for the Education and Internship programs listed in the CBA, MSD is only able to offer (2) scholarships at this time. MSD also stated that MSD hosts treatment plant tours for many area schools in an effort to educate the students about the work performed at MSD and the career opportunities that are available. NAACP inquired about how successful MSD's current internships have been in regard to benefiting MWBEs. MSD responded that the information was not currently available at that moment, but that MSD is hopeful that the ERTC program will help provide a larger pool of diverse candidates for open treatment plant possibilities because of the beneficial financial assistance that MSD is providing. Third, Roland Biehl, a representative from MSD's Department of Environmental Compliance division, conducted a presentation about the EnviroScape Watershed Model and Storm Drain Inlet Markers. DEC visits St. Louis City and County schools in an effort to educate rl to 6th grade students about the negative impact of water pollution on our environment as well as what MSD does to help better our environment. The EnviroScape Watershed Model acts as a visual aid for students to actively learn what factors affect water: trash, salt, animal waste, yard trimmings, dirt, etc. The presentation also proves various Best Management Practices (BMPs): utilizing fencing to contain landscaping, cleaning up pet waste, properly disposing of oil and other chemicals, etc. At the end of the presentation, many of the schools will walk around the surrounding neighborhoods and place Storm Drain Inlet Markers on all the nearby storm drain covers. The physical engagement makes the largest impact on these children. When they go home, they are excited to tell their parents of the experience as well as provide their parents with the various brochures about water pollution and MSD's mission. To aid in the expansion of this program, DEC hosted a workshop that area teachers could attend to learn how to utilize and present the model. This allows teachers in the community to assume more responsibility in educating their students about the environment as well as introduce the students to the work done at MSD. The teachers simply call in a request for the EnviroScape Model, and MSD will deliver it to them. NAACP inquired as to how this program helps divers children secure jobs in the future. MSD responded that this program educates the students on the actions taken to prevent water pollution and MSD's mission. Before the presentation, students may have no knowledge of the presences of organizations tasked with ensuring the cleanliness of storm and sewer water; therefore, they would have no knowledge of the possible career opportunities within the industry. This program allows MSD to have impact on children within primary schools. It helps May 27, 2015 CBA Meeting Page 2 teach them how to be good stewards toward the environment. These children represent MSDs first -point -of -contact. MSD then reaches out to the children in the secondary high schools for internships through SLIP as well as plant treatment visits and finally in the college level for internships. NAACP stated that MSD needs to be more strategic and target older groups who may more clearly see career opportunities as a result from this presentation. MOKAN inquired if adults find any benefit from this program. MSD explained that this presentation has been given to adults and children. Any group may request this presentation. In fact, DEC is currently looking into an opportunity to display this presentation at Six Flags St. Louis for the adult and children ticket holders. MOKAN requested that MSD advertise the presentation in order to reach more adults. MOKAN also requested an up-to-date list of all schools that have participated in the program. 6. MOKAN requested that a discussion be held regarding the current information requests from the NAACP. MSD responded that because of the current threat of litigation, any discussion or questions regarding this topic will need to be reviewed my MSD's legal counsel. MSD requested that any questions be written and sent to MSD for legal review before the next CBA meeting. MSD committed to providing a summary for the next meeting as well. 7. Signatories established next meeting date of August, 26, 2015, by unanimous vote. 8. Meeting adjourned at approximately 2:45 p.m. May 27, 2015 CBA Meeting Page 3 Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT (CBA) REGULAR MEETING Sign In Wednesday, May 27, 2015, 1:00 p.m. 2350 MARKET STREET, ST LOUIS, MO 63103 CONFERENCE ROOM #109 Company Name 1. 2. %Y) 3. 1% i 4. 4/fi 5. S 1-"Y1 I 7. SLAT.' 8. /1\• Ake 6. 9 10. Pl 11. SZ4i 1 12. 13. 14. /TM /(//, V).)100\6.7-6),\C\ 15. 16. &.K51-Nr\ .L.SA i_ /GtYII C�f(r I-�Gl�le%� / ?cc .4 /�,ewc ;:S ljt;cam i/AA,c �r ti10 C BTU- Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Company Name 17. � ' f e 18. 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