Pekau Negotiates Worst “Deal” Ever for Orland Park Taxpayers

OPINION: Retired Orland Park Director of Development Services Bob Sullivan writes:

Keith Pekau Negotiates Worst “Deal” Ever for Orland Park Taxpayers

This sad story for Orland Park taxpayers revolves around the planned widening of 143rd Street between Southwest Highway and Wolf Road by Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). This section of 143rd Street is part of Illinois Route 7, which is under the jurisdiction of IDOT. The previous administration funded engineering work related to the widening to move the project along more quickly. This has been done before and spending Village funds upfront for engineering has generally been accepted as a reasonable approach. The previous administration also negotiated with the Cook County Forest Preserve District (CCFPD) to get a needed 17-foot wide easement, which would result in the CCFPD requiring compensation for land acquisition and tree replacement worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The previous administration pursued a smart negotiation that was successful in getting the easement and spent no additional Village funds save minimal staff time and the aforementioned engineering work. The Village at that time was uniquely qualified to help the CCFPD settle a lawsuit and arrange for a land donation to the CCFPD by a developer, meeting the CCFPD required compensation in a novel manner. IDOT indicated that it could move ahead with the road widening with this easement in place. Limiting this easement to 17 feet minimized intrusion into forest preserve land, in exchange for the need for some retaining walls.
Keith Pekau has a history of dismissing all efforts prior to his tenure as somehow inadequate and predictably decided to put his imprint on this project. He first offered up Village land to IDOT for stormwater purposes related to the 143rd Street road widening even though this was not a Village responsibility or requirement. The land is a preserved Open Lands parcel along 143rd Street east of Wolf Road that contains an ancient native oak grove on a hill. These trees were there long before Orland Park was incorporated. Open Lands are specifically limited to conservation purposes only, so this was illegal and unethical, not to mention a violation of the public trust. Clearly, Pekau placed no value on this unique and irreplaceable natural area.

Pekau kept this giveaway secret from the Open Lands Commission. When the commissioners discovered this in an exhibit at a public hearing, they passed a resolution to object to this illegal transfer and destruction of a valuable Village resource. Subsequently, Pekau kicked everyone off the Open Lands Commission and then eliminated the Open Lands Commission entirely. This Commission was instrumental in preserving 300 acres of natural areas in Orland Park.
Pekau then stepped in to facilitate elimination of the retaining walls for IDOT’s 143rd Street widening in favor of further intrusion into the forest preserves. This meant using more forest preserve land and regrading land further from the road, destroying many more trees and natural areas to save IDOT money on retaining walls. He also apparently decided that the additional CCFPD charges for land acquisition and tree mitigation associated with this change should be funded by Orland Park taxpayers. Remember that Orland Park had no obligation to pay this substantial additional cost for IDOT’s project and it isn’t even clear that this moved the project along any faster. The CCFPD apparently rejected the increased easement/right-of-way to wisely minimize destruction of natural resources.
His next big deal-making move related to the 143rd Street widening was to give away the Orland Park Nature Center and its 27.5 acres to the CCFPD to cover IDOT’s costs related to retaining walls and any other related mitigation. The Nature Center is also an Open Lands parcel. Although the CCFPD may very well use it for conservations purposes, is it part of the agreement? Could they use it for a maintenance facility or other non-conservation use?

The most outrageous part of this whole thing is admitted by Pekau himself in his video of himself at his Coffee with the Mayor on July 24, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_orJXfvvz0
Go to minute 50 and watch him describe his conversation with the CCFPD saying “You’re getting a $5 million property. We’re getting about a million dollars back.” Yes, you read that right. He and his trustees just gave away a Village asset, the Nature Center, worth $5 million (according to Pekau, although the appraised value cited in an agreement says it’s worth $2.62 million) to CCFPD to cover IDOT’s costs of $1 million (again, according to Pekau). So he was willing to pay five times the cost of someone else’s bill!
Again, this is not a Village project and the Village in no way was required to do this. Keith Pekau decided to step in where he wasn’t needed to do a really bad deal that didn’t have to be done and gave away millions of dollars of taxpayer money for IDOT’s project!! It looks like he felt so flush with cash from his retail sales tax increase, new utility tax and property tax increase, that he could just give away millions. It could be worse. He could be throwing away $15 million on a new gun range when the Village already has one. Oh yeah, he really is doing that too. It continues to get worse folks.