College of DuPage and the DuPage Zoning Appeals Meeting

The final session of the DuPage Zoning Board of Appeals in at 6:00pm on May 21. Be there! (Hint - click on the images to enlarge them):

This is the condition of the "detention pond" and the "College 7" parking improvements that the College of DuPage built on our property line. This and the following photo were taken on May 15.

Could the College Act Responsibly to Deal with This?
What could the college do? Does it have the resources to deal with this problem and others that the college has created? It apparently does, but chooses not to. As an example, go to the Glen Ellyn Patch online newsletter, and you will see that on May 21 the college is giving away tulip bulbs. According to the article "Nearly 10,000 bulbs will be given away in a variety of colors – red, yellow, pink, purple and violet. People are asked to bring their own bags and will be limited to 20 bulbs per person." Chris Kornsey, the manager of Bulding and Grounds at the College of DuPage is quoted as follows: “The bulbs come from the College’s flower beds...Replacing bulbs on a regular basis is a fairly common practice on large campuses, whether corporate or educational.” (Note 3).

Yes, and it's good PR. Meanwhile here on the "backlot" of the campus, the college is showing its true colors. It's my understanding that many other facilities sell those discarded bulbs. Not COD, they can float another bond issue any time they desire and as occurred in Rome, toss bread to the masses. Tax and spend and give trinkets!

Should neighbors be angry? Let me see. The college takes hundreds of dollars each year from our pockets as real estate taxes, floats hundreds of millions of dollars in bond issues, which are really promises the college is making on behalf of the residents. Those promises guarantee that the residents will payoff those loans in the future via higher taxes. How does the college spend the money? Some of it in the relentless PR campaign, and another good chunk in suing the Village of Glen Ellyn which is to say, the taxpaying residents. Does the college have sufficient money to do this? Is tuition going up? Are teachers being asked to tighten their belts? What about belt tightening by the "management?"

Of course the college could create tulip beds here on the "back lot" but what's the worth of a few neighbors? Besides, has the Patch published these photos? Not at all. Let's promote the pap and avoid the reality. As is frequently said, "you're either a part of the problem or part of the solution."

Our association has been given awards for our landscaping and our owners pay fees for this landscaping of our property, a portion of which is shown on the left side of the COD fence, in the photo below.  Let me say it a different way. We each pay fees for this; we spend our hard earned money to achieve this' not a nickel of taxpayer money is spent and we aren't floating $hundreds of millions in bonds which we expect our neighbors to deal with, after management has moved on to its retirement dachas. 

However, the College of DuPage collects real estate taxes, self promotes and also provides what is shown in these photos. Of course, our owners don't have a choice. They are taxed and the college spends as it wishes. 

I suggest that the College of DuPage secede from DuPage County. Why stop with Glen Ellyn?  After publishing this and viewing it on the WWW, I realized that the photo below was more representative of the wall that separated "West and East Berlin." 

Should the owners of BLMH be concerned? I attended the May 10 DuPage County Zoning Board of Appeals meeting and voiced my concern to the board.

When the fence went up, and we asked what they were doing, COD told us that they were building "parking improvements" in 2011. We discovered that the work would include a landscaped and tree lined "detention pond." Nevertheless, we were assured by the COD representative that the work would be completed in 2011.

The above is what COD delivered.

Our association voiced our concerns to the college. Meanwhile, the College of DuPage has spent tens of thousands of dollars on landscaping along Fawell/22nd street. And probably $100K on those contested billboard signs. It must be great to be able to go into $hundreds of millions in debt and leave the taxpayers on the hook! At the rate this college is going, it seems they want to have a debt load in the $billions. That's "innovation" for you! Or is it "mortgaging the future?" Now, that would be a neat slogan for our innovative college! "Mortgaging Your Future!"


Our Concerns in a Nutshell
Our concerns and statements are simple. What COD is doing is changing the character of our neighbor hood. Based upon traffic and parking issues as presented during the zoning hearing, it seems the College is not addressing the problems it is creating. Overflow parking into neighborhoods, traffic accidents, and so on. are problems which should not be ignored. In particular, by an "innovative" college.  Ditto for the "runoff" that flows into our lake #4.

I went to the expense of submitting a 7 page certified letter to each of the Board of Trustees of the college. The reply I got was to be added to the mailing list for the "College of DuPage Viewpoint." This is promoted as the "COD Viewpoint - C.O.D. Board at Work, Keeping Community Leaders and District 502 informed of news and innovations at your community college." I've included a link at the end of this post.

Currently, the nearby community college is planning a building in the location that was designated "College 7" parking on their 2011 drawings. Well, that's not quite true. According to the testimony of the COD representatives at the May 10 zoning board of appeals hearing, these are all "existing" projects. So these aren't planned. They are in progress. From my perspective, the college broke it's word with my association, didn't complete the work in 2011. decided to expand the project, and decided we didn't need to be informed. That's to be expected from an "innovative" board of trustees and college?.

The  7 page letter to the COD board of trustees, also went to the following individuals, to several reporters, our management and association board president:

• Dan Cronin, DuPage County Chairman
• Robert J. Kartholl, Chairman, Zoning Board of Appeals
• Rep. Sandra Pihos
• James F. Zay, DuPage Water Commission Chairman
• Staci Hulseberg, Director of Planning, Village of Glen Ellyn
• Jim Kozik, Director of Planning, City of Wheaton
• Mike Jankovic, Sewer Supt. City of Wheaton

Here's a link to the latest marketing effort by the college, which was their response to my certified letter:

Clicking will open a  New Window> College of DuPage Trustee Innovations

Notes:

1. Currently, the college is relying upon its attorney to pursue the Village of Glen Ellyn. That's how our "innovative" college is dealing with its problems. Another way is to spend a lot of money. a substantial part of that comes from real estate taxes. Well, perhaps its a trivial amount in the eyes of the board of trustees and the college president. 
2. As a tax paying resident of DuPage county, I take a dim view of a community college that uses my real estate taxes to sue and generally engage in a "peeing contest" with the village in which it resides. I don't care what glossy brochures or website the college puts up. It's pursuing a path I would call "poor citizenship." Of course, from a marketing perspective, it's important for the college to maintain this "serene and innovative" image. It's smoke and mirrors. 
3. Here's the link for the great tulip bulb giveaway at the College of DuPage:
Clicking will open the New Window> The Great Tulip Giveaway