Attorney Says Orland Violated Bid Laws; Some Road Projects Halted

ORLAND PARK, IL — The Village of Orland Park broke state bidding laws when it added $3.8 million worth of work to a roads improvement project contract earlier this month, the village's attorney has said.

In messages to the mayor and trustees, village attorney E. Kenneth Friker said that the Illinois Public Works Contract Change Order Act requires that municipalities put changes or additions to contracts out to bid when they amount to 50 percent or more of the original contract's price. The extra work far exceeded that threshold.

Friker's response came through a series of exchanges with trustee Jim Dodge, who has been questioning the validity of the change order since the board approved it at the May 6 board meeting.

"It was absolutely wrong to do it the way they did. It should have come through the budget process, there should have been public discussion and we should have considered the impact of doing this through pure debt financing," Dodge said. "And now we violated state statute."

Village officials said some staff members acknowledged that some errors may have been made in a rush to bring the issue up for a vote. Those staff members, officials said, are fully vetting what happened and will address all issues with the proposal so that they can provide proper and legal options the board can use to decide its next steps at the June board meeting.

Several trustees also said that the $3.8 million change order was put on hold Friday after Patch broke the story about the statute violation. Trustee Dan Calandriello, who has long advocated for road-improvement projects in Orland, added that he will ask that the change order be canceled and possibly put to bid at the June board meeting. It is not yet clear whether the original $1.9 million project will continue.

Calandriello also said that he was informed Friday that the village's counsel did not review the proposal before it was put on the May agenda.

"I was under the impression they had," he said."I never would have voted for it if I had the information then that I had now."

He said he believed the decision was rushed and wished that trustees had the opportunity to deliberate the changes through the budget discussions.

The board of trustees voted to award a $1.9 million contract to repair neighborhood streets and sidewalks to Austin Tyler Construction of Elwood, Ill., that had gone through a bidding process. Later in the meeting, they voted to add $3.8 million worth of work to the original contract — without going to bid — and to borrow money to pay for the project. The change amounts to a 200 percent increase over the original contract.

At the meeting, both Dodge and Calandriello questioned why trustees should vote on a big-ticket project that had not been discussed by trustees before the vote and that had not been vetted as part of the village's budgeting process.

Orland's public works director John Ingram explained that he had been asked to review the options to expand this year's road improvement projects and determined there were too many for staff to handle. Because construction — and bidding — season is here, to save time, he said, he sought an estimate from the contractor. Ingram added that he and his staff were "pleased" with the price and rushed to put the additional request on the agenda. It is believed Mayor Keith Pekau asked Ingram to add the changes to the roads improvement project.

Pekau declined to respond for comment because he did not like the journalist's reporting.

"This was a political hatchet job consistent with the last dozen or so articles you have written," he said in an email. "You are not a credible journalist. Therefore, I will not be meeting with you or talking you at any time."

Six firms made the village's shortlist for the roads project. K-Five Construction Corporation of Westmont submitted the highest bid at $2.29 million; Austin Tyler came in the lowest at $1.92 million.

Jennifer Krug McNaughten, executive vice president of K-Five, said her firm would have welcomed the opportunity to bid on the extra work.

"If K-Five would have known of an expansion on the project, we would have bid on it, however, there is no guarantee we would have been low bidder," she said.

Most Illinois municipalities are required by state law to seek bids on large public works projects to eliminate favoritism and invite competition. They are not, however, required to select the lowest bidder if they can justify the reasons for selecting a contractor. Municipalities can amend the cost later and often do so, such as when unexpected costs arise, through the use of change orders. However, the public works statute requires that the project go out to bid again if the changes are more than 50 percent of the original cost of the project.

One resident, Michael Henry, said he is deeply disappointed by the move. Voters, he said, chose Pekau in 2017 over longtime mayor Dan McLaughlin because they believed he would clean up government practices and spending.

"He was someone we thought was up and up," Henry said. "This is a slap in the face of people who voted for good government."

The roads and sidewalks that will be repaired and resurfaced under the original contract include those at Park Hill, Brentwood, and Ravinia Avenue between 143rd Street to 144th Place; the south side of 135th Street between 88th Avenue and St. Mary’s Circle; and a sidewalk at the Orland Park Health and Fitness Center.

The projects under the $3.8 million expansion include:Brentwood (the north half); Arbor Pointe (including Grandview Drive); Golfview Condos (Brassie, Foxbend, Deerfield, and Sunset Ridge Courts); Persimmon Ridge/Persimmon Glen/Persimmon Meadows/Ashford Estates; Seton Place; and Tee Brook Villa.