COD challenges Glen Ellyn officials
Within an hour of concluding what College of DuPage believed to be a productive session on Tuesday morning with Glen Ellyn officials pertaining to building and inspection information, the Village filed for injunctive relief in the courts in an attempt to prevent the College from occupying four of its newly constructed buildings in August. At no time during their meeting with the College did Village officials discuss their intention to file an injunction that same day.
“The Village says in public that they are attempting to find a cooperative resolution, but does this sound like a cooperative approach? On the same day they met with the College, they filed in court to prevent our state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities from opening,” COD Board of Trustees Chairman David Carlin said. “If these tactics are allowed to stand, it could adversely impact the lives of the thousands of students we educate from around the district. We will do all we can to prevent Village officials from hurting our teaching and learning this fall.”
The Tuesday morning meeting was an effort by the College to answer any questions the Village may have regarding inspection information previously provided. In addition, the College had previously provided an additional “certificate of compliance” from registered licensed architects and engineers to satisfy Village concerns about responsibility for building code compliance. Providing certificates of compliance is above and beyond normal practice. During the meeting, Village officials acknowledged they have never asked for such additional assurances from anyone else.
“They requested inspection reports, a meeting and a tour of College facilities. We provided the reports in a timely manner and conducted the meeting and tour,” Chairman Carlin said. “At no time have they pointed to anything that is a health or safety issue.”
“The question should be whether the College's certificates satisfy the core concern of appropriate code compliance by the architects,” COD President Robert L. Breuder said. “The simple answer is yes. Our architects are taking legal responsibility for the health and safety of their work, which at the end of the day is what the Village wants.”
The Village responded at Tuesday's meeting with its own interpretation of a certificate of compliance, to which College officials agreed to review and respond. The College was not afforded this opportunity.
A release issued after the meeting from the Village states, “The Village proposed such a certification system because the College never applied for building permits nor allowed the buildings to be inspected.” The College has never prevented Village officials from entering its buildings. In fact, the Village inspectors, Fire Chief and Building Department head have repeatedly visited the construction sites. The College has maintained from the beginning that it is not legally required, per Illinois Community College Board Regulations, to apply for the permits cited by the Village.
“The Village's latest action affirms that their concern is not as they have publicly stated, the health, welfare and safety of people connected to the College,” President Breuder said. “Rather it is simply about power and control. College officials made clear from the outset the best way to resolve this conflicting point of view is through the court system. We proceeded in that direction and were asked by the Village repeatedly to desist and work together toward crafting a mutually acceptable intergovernmental agreement. The College did this, and on April the 18th reached an agreement with the Village for a new intergovernmental agreement which was approved by the COD Board of Trustees but not by the Village of Glen Ellyn.”
Village officials in attendance on Tuesday morning included Interim Village Manager Terry Burghard, Village Planning and Development Director Staci Hulseberg, Building and Zoning official Joe Kvapil and B&F Technical Code Services Inspector Ken Garrett. Officials then inspected the soon-to-be completed Homeland Security Center (HEC), the Culinary & Hospitality Center (CHC) and renovations and additions to the Berg Instructional Center (BIC). Burghard and Hulseberg declined to go on the tour. Village officials who inspected the facilities informed College officials that construction standards were exemplary.
“The College has been following the protocols mutually agreed upon with the Village to provide all appropriate documentation upon request,” President Breuder said. “The meeting and campus tour were part of the College's overture to address any remaining concerns held by Village officials. At the end of the day, the Village officials who went on the tour felt the buildings were well constructed, exceeding the standards used by others in the Village. For the Village to then turn around within the hour and file for injunctive relief is incomprehensible and a further waste of tax dollars.
“If there is a ray of hope that we can find common ground, those seeds had been planted during Tuesday's meeting.” President Breuder said. “Everything they need to say ‘yes' is in the Village's hands. Now is the time to step back and ask two simple questions: Are these buildings safe for the community and for students? Are the College and its building professionals taking legal responsibility for their work? Clearly, the answer is yes. If there was ever a time to stop the gamesmanship, now is that time. Our next communication to the public should be about how the Village and the College have found a way to work together for the benefit of the people that we serve. That is responsible government.
“We challenge the Village to provide a legitimate, bona fide list of health, welfare and safety issues that they have identified that the College has refused to address,” President Breuder said. “I do not believe they can meet this challenge, but I would very much like to see the public hold them to it. It would demonstrate with certainty that, for Village leadership, this process has been about control, not the welfare of the people we serve.”
For more information, contact Associate Vice President for External Relations Joe Moore at (630) 942-2371, e-mail moorej7718@cod.edu.