Village Refuses to Issue COD Occupancy Certificates Without Inspections

The Village of Glen Ellyn plans to meet with the College of DuPage’s architects on Wednesday – but how COD will react is unknown at this point.

In the days after the village passed its policy on COD’s planned de-annexation, Glen Ellyn’s planning and development department reviewed COD’s plans, reviews and site observations. In a letter thanking COD senior project manager Aleisha Jaeger for the college’s cooperation, Joe Kvapil, building and zoning official for Glen Ellyn, said the village was scheduling a “field meeting” with the college’s peer reviewers and site observers.

Interim village manager Terry Burghard said the reaction they have gotten from architectural firms like Legat Architects has been positive. They have heard nothing from COD, however.

“We have not seen any signs of non-cooperation,” said Village Board President Mark Pfefferman.

In an interview after the meeting, Burghard said the village will go to court if the college tries to block the scheduled Wednesday meeting. It should be noted as well that Pfefferman requested that the village trustees send him new contact information in case that they cannot be easily reached on Wednesday.

The goal of Wednesday’s meeting is to arrange for COD’s architects to issue certificates of compliance, as those certificates could be the next step in issuing certificates of occupancy.

The certificates of occupancy are one of the tensions in the rift between the college and the village. The village has maintained that they will not issue the certificates without inspecting the construction of COD’s four buildings. COD, however, said they do not need the village to inspect the buildings as they have their own three-tiered process for doing so.

But one question that has bothered the village is the timeline of the construction. Kvapil said 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, according to COD’s website.

Village Attorney Stewart Diamond said Glen Ellyn could go to court if COD tries to occupy the buildings without the village’s input.

As of press time, COD could not be reached for comment.