Orland Will Waive Bidding For Roads Project, Mayor Pekau Says

ORLAND PARK, IL — Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau plans to fix a flawed roads-improvement project proposal by asking trustees to rescind the contract it awarded earlier this month and offer the work again by waiving the bidding process, he told his political supporters Tuesday.

In his regular email newsletters to campaign supporters, Pekau acknowledged some missteps were made after the board added $3.8 million worth of work to a roads improvement project contract the board approved earlier in May. The original contract, worth $1.9 million, was awarded through a bidding process to Austin Tyler Construction of Elwood, Ill. The addition was made through a change order and was not put out to bid.

Last week, village attorneys, the mayor and trustees acknowledged that they had inadvertently violated public works bidding laws when they attempted to expand the project that officials largely agree is needed to repair many Orland streets and walkways. The law requires that changes 50 percent or more of the original contract go out for bid. Projects in at least 10 subdivisions and sections of Orland are now on hold.

In his message, Pekau told supporters that he would work to fix the problem and do it in an efficient and affordable way.

"After the vote was passed, before the contract was signed, we became aware of a clause in the contract that all changes would be by change order. This clause is not in every contract we do, but apparently the expansion conflicts with an Illinois statute regarding change orders," he wrote. "Ultimately, however, the board can waive the bid process and effectively did so in this case and for good reasons that were previously outlined. The problem is easily fixed so that it conforms with the statutes and move forward with the road project. We will bring a new contract to the board floor and waive the bid process. Not taking these steps would make the work more expensive and result in a tiny fraction of the additional work being done this year (due to the time to complete the bidding process)."

How Pekau or officials will do this is not yet clear. Village attorney Ken Friker did not respond to requests for comment. Pekau declined to elaborate.

"I think you would agree that it would be premature for me to speculate on what may or may not happen in the public meeting Thursday evening that is addressing this topic," he said in an email to Patch. "The meeting is at 5PM Thursday at the Village Hall. I look forward to seeing you then."

Illinois statute does permit some exceptions to municipalities' contract and bidding practices. A village, for example, can bypass bidding if the project is paid for by a special assessment or special taxation. The law also permits exceptions when two-thirds of aldermen or trustees vote to award a contract without competitive bidding. In these cases, neither the mayor nor the president can vote, and the municipality must choose to do the work itself. In those cases, materials worth $20,000 or more must be put to bid. Home rule municipalities, or those that have more control over how they finance and run communities, also can amend some bidding ordinances. Orland Park operates under home rule, and has amended some bid-based contracts. For example, the village waived bidding under the contract for its insurer, The Horton Group. That contract can be renewed without going to bid.

The meeting Pekau referred to is a special meeting the village approved Tuesday to work out details about fixing the flawed roads improvement contract. The meeting will be held at 5 p.m., Thurs., May 30 at the village hall.