No Water Use At Burr Ridge Trustee's House: Records

BURR RIDGE, IL — Burr Ridge Trustee Zach Mottl says his residence remains at 7908 Garfield Ave. in Burr Ridge, but Mayor Gary Grasso and others are questioning whether he really lives there. Exhibit A: Mottl's water bills.

Through a public records request, Burr Ridge Patch obtained the last year of Mottl's water bills. His May 12 bill shows he used no water in the previous two months. Before that, he had been using 5,000 to 8,000 gallons for every two-month period. To serve on the Burr Ridge Village Board, the mayor and trustees are required to live in the village.

Real state websites show Mottl put up his townhouse for sale in mid-February and that he accepted an offer in late April, with the transaction marked as contingent. In DuPage County's property tax records, Mottl is still listed as the owner of the townhouse at 7908 Garfield Ave.

Grasso has said the village wants to know where the trustee is living.

"I'm told a moving van was there last week — don't know if in or out," Grasso said in an email to Patch recently. "Almost no water usage registered for that unit for the last two months. Weeks ago, the unit listed as seller has accepted offer. Do you need Sherlock 'Homes'?"

In response, Mottl said in an email to Patch that he had not changed his residence.

"My townhouse is for sale and under contract," Mottl said. "Once it closes, I will provide the village with my new address. One never knows with closings ... it's a funny world out there. So until it officially closes, I do not have an official new address and remain at 7908 Garfield."

In April, a resident during the public input portion of a Village Board meeting suggested Mottl had moved out of his house and no longer lived in town. At Grasso's request, Karen Thomas, the village's then-clerk, emailed trustees asking them to verify their home addresses. All the trustees but Mottl gave the information. Mottl responded, "My residency has not changed," according to documents that Burr Patch obtained through a public records request.

At last week's board meeting, Mottl, whom Grasso defeated in last year's mayoral election, said it was wrong for the village to spend so much time on the issue of his residence during a time of uncertainty related to the pandemic.

"You are improperly using village funds to cover your wayward personal vendetta," Mottl told Grasso.

Grasso and Mottl have tangled over a number of issues. The Village Board has twice censured Mottl for calling Grasso, an Italian American, a "mobster." The board accused Mottl of making an ethnic slur, which the trustee denied.