Burr Ridge Trustee Says He Remains In Town

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge Trustee Zach Mottl, whose residency has been under question, informed the village Thursday that he has moved in with family temporarily while he continues to search for a new home.

In mid-February, Mottl put up his townhouse on Garfield Avenue for sale. He accepted an offer on the property in late April, with the transaction marked as contingent. On Thursday, he emailed the village's deputy clerk, Evan Walter, that the sale of the townhouse closed. "The buyers got a beautiful home in a wonderful location," he said.

In an email to Patch, Mottl said he was looking for a home in Burr Ridge, but hasn't ruled out other towns.

"Burr Ridge has a lot to offer and is close to my family and work, both very important factors to me," he said. "I think, because of the pandemic, the housing market was slightly distorted but more choices will be on the market soon."

Last month, Mayor Gary Grasso had then-Clerk Karen Thomas email all the trustee asking for their home addresses. This was likely prompted by a resident's comment during a Village Board meeting that Mottl had moved out of town. Every trustee provided Thomas with a specific address, but Mottl only said his residency had not changed.

In an email, Grasso told Patch that a moving van had been seen outside of Mottl's house and that the trustee's water use had dropped to "almost" nothing. Through a public records request, Patch learned that Mottl's May 12 water bill showed no water use for the preceding two months.

Mottl said Grasso was abusing his office and wasting public resources to watch him.

"Monitoring my water usage is an invasion of my privacy," Mottl said in the email to Patch.

To serve on the Burr Ridge Village Board, the mayor and trustees are required to live in the village.

In an email Friday, Grasso said the information that Mottl provides meets the village's requirement.

"That’s all he had to give the clerk when first asked weeks ago," the mayor said. "He obviously had moved and was living somewhere else. The presumption was he had moved in with his parents and it turns out that’s where he’s living."