Orland Park Board Members OK Parking Deck Agreement, Body Camera Purchase

Orland Park IL

09 September, 2021

2:28 PM

Description

By Jon DePaolis, Richard Free Press: ORLAND PARK, Ill. — The Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees unanimously approved a lease agreement with the University of Chicago Medicine Center for maintenance at the parking deck located at 14290 S. LaGrange Road. The 7-0 vote came during the Tuesday, Sept. 7, Village Board meeting and was discussed in greater detail at the Committee of the Whole meeting held prior in the evening. Assistant Village Manager Greg Summers told the board members that the Village entered into a ground lease with University of Chicago in 2015. "Part of that lease agreement called for the University of Chicago to use a Village parking deck to be constructed [there]," he said, noting that the multilevel parking structure was in place by November 2016. "The University of Chicago felt that they could more cost effectively provide this service by leveraging their existing contracts for their facilities located in the Chicagoland area." Since then, it was understood by both parties that the agreement was underway but was never formalized — leading to some accrued past-due balances amounting to $172,049.90, Summers noted. Moving forward, the Village's per-quarter flat rate expense would be $21,709.75. Summers said the agreement is for five years and has an automatic renewal until it is replaced with a new agreement. "Under this agreement, the University of Chicago will provide: snow removal; landscaping services; cleaning, sweeping and pressure washing of the deck; trash removal; graffiti removal; and will also perform routine maintenance and monitoring for lighting, exit lights, doors, signage, elevators, the emergency buttons, floor drains, HVAC, and the paint conditions," he said. "We've had staff look [at the numbers], and we believe that is a lower cost of service than we could provide for those same services." He also said that in the event that snowfall exceeds or is below the averages for the region as determined by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather station, there will be an adjustment of $1,521.44 per inch. Overall, he said the deal was helpful for the Village. "We don't have to oversee or offer the manpower or manage the contracts for any of those services in the garage," he said. "It also provides us a very predictable expense which we can budget going forward so we don't see those fluctuations." Mayor Keith Pekau thanked Village staff for working on the agreement. "I know we keep uncovering these hidden gems from prior to 2017," he said. "The good news is that we got it solved going forward. It looks like a good agreement." Additionally, the Village Board members approved the purchase of 116 Axon body-worn cameras and other related items as part of the Consent Agenda. The five-year cost for the hardware and accessories totaled $974,999.99. Richard Free Press is a one-stop destination for the news that most affects you, the southwest suburban resident. Be an informed citizen of the town you live in and love.