Slight progress made in three-decade St. Charles home project
A St. Charles man who faces sanctions for a home construction project that has been languishing since 1975 presented a Kane County judge Friday with roofing plans that had been approved by the city.
However, Judge Robert Mueller still wants Clifford McIlvaine next Thursday to bring a completion timetable for the roof, along with a plan for McIlvaine to connect to the city water supply.
“He was supposed to have (the water plans) done months ago and he hasn’t even started yet,” said Phil Luetkehans, an attorney representing the city.
The progress, albeit incremental, pleased St. Charles officials, who sued McIlvaine in late 2010 in an effort to get the project at 605 Prairie St. moving forward.
“We’re happy we finally have plans that make sense. They’re about 10 months late. I don’t think the project is 10 months behind,” Luetkehans said. “We’re going to keep pushing to get this done (by Sept. 28).”
That was the date that the city and McIlvaine agreed on to finish the work, but McIlvaine missed numerous deadlines and Mueller found him to be in contempt of court in May.
McIlvaine missed his sentencing hearing and two weeks ago, Mueller said McIlvaine would be find $100 per day going forward for every day the project was behind schedule.
Although McIlvaine could be sentenced to jail time on the contempt charge, Luetkehans and other city officials have said they just want the project completed because it is a safety hazard and eyesore to the neighborhood.