Orland Park board upholds suspension of Dale Incorporated, reduces term to two years

The Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees on July 7 held an administrative hearing and voted to uphold a suspension of Dale Incorporated for procurement irregularities, reducing the suspension from three years to two.

The matter arose after village staff reviewed documentation submitted with Dale Incorporated’s bid for a 2026 asphalt pavement patching contract and concluded a March letter purporting to be from LiUNA (the Laborers’ union) had been altered. Village prosecutor Donna Norton told the board the March 24 document contained an inconsistent date and stale 2024 program data; Norton said LaUNA confirmed the letter had not been issued and the signatory was retired. “Dale Incorporated chose to intentionally falsify a certification document,” Norton said, and staff recommended suspension under village code 1-16-15.

Sergio Cepeda, a representative for Dale Incorporated, told trustees the company had been an awarded contractor the prior year, that clerical timing issues and a revised Responsible Bidder Ordinance deadline left the firm scrambling for updated union paperwork, and that the company had resubmitted previously provided documentation. “We take ownership of the fact that the date was…a time stamp. That is our clerical error,” Cepeda said, asking the board for “a little bit of grace” and for the suspension to be reduced or removed.

Trustees moved the case into executive session to consider evidence, then returned to open session and voted to uphold the suspension but reduce its length to two years. The roll-call vote recorded the motion as carried with the board voting in favor.

The board’s action preserves the village manager’s authority under code to suspend vendors for misrepresentation while shortening the vendor’s ineligibility period; trustees noted the village bears the burden of establishing cause by a preponderance of the evidence. The decision does not include additional public remedies beyond the vendor suspension; the village indicated it may discuss further procedural clarifications in executive session.

Next steps: the suspension will remain in effect as reduced; the record shows Dale Incorporated filed an appeal, which the board considered and ultimately denied in part by shortening the suspension term.