College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn back in court
A DuPage County judge is expected to weigh in next week on the latest legal flap between Glen Ellyn and the College of DuPage.
Judge Hollis Webster on Monday said she will explore on Wednesday, May 30, the college's claim that the village violated a long-sought agreement with its “overzealous” opposition to COD expansion plans.
Attorneys for both parties appeared before Webster and met briefly in her chambers before agreeing to wait until next week to address the issue. The village said its two attorneys most familiar with the case were not immediately available.
The concerns stem from an agreement that transferred jurisdictional control of the 273-acre campus from Glen Ellyn to DuPage County earlier this year.
The college claims Glen Ellyn officials violated that agreement by “inserting themselves” in the county's zoning process by “writing letters, organizing opposition, making phone calls and testifying against the college's zoning application at two public hearings,” according to court records.
Village officials contend they were asked for input by the county, and the college is now trying to prevent them from giving it.
“All the village is trying to do is participate as it would in the normal course of business,” village attorney Keri-Lyn Krafthefer said in court.
COD attorney Steve Ruffalo said the parties have reached a “tipping point” and the college is hoping for a resolution “as soon as possible.”
“Hopefully, nobody will does anything in that time to tip the balance we're trying to hang onto,” he told the judge.
In a court motion, the college says the agreement calls for the village to “step away” and allow DuPage County to decide the issues. In its response, the village calls COD's request “strange” and contends it was specifically timed to dissuade the village from speaking at a county zoning meeting tonight.
“The village believes that the motion has no chance of being granted by this court,” the response says. “The village feels entirely free to continue to offer respectful and thoughtful comments.”