Village and COD to Discuss Building Certificates

Compliance certificates continue to be a point of contention between the Village of Glen Ellyn and the College of DuPage – but a Tuesday meeting could help restore the working relationship.

The college, which is seeking to de-annex itself from the village, presented village staff with certificates of compliance for four new construction sites on the college campus last week. However, village officials have yet to sign off on the new buildings. If village inspectors determine the buildings meet municipal codes, they can issue the college certificates of occupancy, which will allow the buildings to be used.

Terry Burghard, the interim village manager, said staff found the certificates filed by the College of DuPage to be “inadequate and incomplete." In response, the village prepared draft certificates of compliance for the college to use as a guideline and presented them to school officials and their architects.

At 8 a.m. Tuesday, village and college officials will meet to seek a palatable solution to the differences of opinion over the certificates.

Glen Ellyn Village President Mark Pfefferman is hopeful any differences can be worked out.

“I really think we can get this taken care of and have everything resolved soon,” Pfefferman said after Monday night’s board meeting. “We just want to make sure the buildings were constructed safely.”

Village officials maintain they will not issue the occupancy certificates without inspecting the buildings for compliance with village building codes. COD officials though, said they do not need the village to inspect the buildings since the school has its own three-tiered process for doing so.

The village and college have been at odds for nearly a year. The four buildings in question are the Culinary Hospitality Center, Berg Instructional Center, Student Resource Center and the Homeland Security Center.

Joe Kvapil, building and zoning official for Glen Ellyn, COD’s buildings are probably at “90 percent or more completion” and that the buildings are slated to be finished in June of this year

Village attorney Stewart Diamond said if the school ignores the village’s concerns, the village will have no choice but to seek legal redress. If the village and college cannot come to an agreement on the four buildings, Diamond said they would seek a court order preventing the college from using the buildings. He hopes it does not come to that, however.

“If we leave this in the hands of the building experts and not the lawyers, I believe a compromise can be met,” Diamond said.

Glen Ellyn staff plans to tour the four COD buildings sometime next week, but a date has yet to be set.

No COD official attended Monday’s board meeting.

Prior to adjourning the meeting, Pfefferman said the village posted a response on its Web site to address rumors and perceptions about the relationship between the village and the college. One perception the village is seeking to redress is the relationship between Glen Ellyn and the College of DuPage. Village officials assert the relationship is not “irretrievably broken” and are supportive of each other.