Work it out, Glen Ellyn and College of DuPage

Once again, the marriage of Glen Ellyn and the College of DuPage is on the rocks.

A long-running dispute that began with village officials’ concerns about the community college’s signage has escalated into threats of divorce, nearly literally.

College of DuPage officials say they are pursuing plans to de-annex their 273-acre campus from Glen Ellyn after village officials set aside a negotiated agreement the two sides worked out.

We were not present when the agreement was hammered out. And just as in a marriage, only the two parties truly in it through thick and thin might know and appreciate the full history here. What we do know, as we have said in this space before, is that both parties need to quit communicating only via third-party news releases and letters to the editor and work this out now.

There is too much at stake worth saving for both parties to let this marriage end in dissolution.

Glen Ellyn stands to lose a fine, first-class institution, the state’s second-largest higher education facility. It stands to lose about $500,000 annually in fees and taxes the college pays for water, sewer, gas, electric, sales and telecommunications.

The college stands to lose a home within a fine, first-class community. It stands to lose good, reliable access to infrastructure that could cost more elsewhere, along with the services of the closest, most familiar emergency workers in the Glen Ellyn police, fire and paramedic departments.

Worst of all, is that de-annexation likely would drag out in court, costing untold hours and dollars. That would not serve taxpayers or students who likely would bear some of that financial burden through taxes, tuition and fees.

The college board approved the intergovernmental agreement the two parties negotiated on April 28. It calls for the village to not enforce most of its ordinances, regulations, permits or codes on the college. Village officials then said they wanted to be able to add language allowing it to enforce health and safety regulations on campus. Earlier this month, trustees tabled approval of the agreement, saying they wanted to give residents more time to learn about the plan.

David Carlin, COD board chairman, seemed to suggest village trustees pulled a fast one in tabling the agreement and asking to add language dealing with parades, litter and weed control. Village President Mark Pfefferman said he was saddened to hear about de-annexation threats and surprised to learn about them through a COD news release.

If this all sounds to you like a bad daytime TV soap opera, well, it sounds that way to us, too.

We again urge Glen Ellyn and College of DuPage officials to meet, face to face, with a mediator if necessary, and end this serial melodrama once and for all.

This public quarreling is embarrassing to both. This marriage is just too good to let go.