Trustees ask legal review and table personnel-manual changes after debate over drug, work‑day and confidentiality rules

Trustee Russ Smith urged the Board to strengthen the village’s drug‑free workplace policy after an incident involving a police officer, saying the manual’s current language needs to be tightened and that termination should be a possible consequence for violations.

“Termination of employment should take place” if an employee is caught violating the policy, Smith said during the Jan. 13 meeting, while also requesting counsel to review whether automatic termination is legally permissible.

Mayor Grama and other trustees said Illinois law and union contracts may limit automatic termination, so staff and the village attorney should examine the legal constraints and proposed wording. Trustees also questioned the manual’s definition of “workday,” pressing staff to clarify whether off‑hours activity while on village business (for example, driving a village vehicle on weekends) is covered. Staff said they will revise language so the manual applies when a person is performing village business, including when operating a village vehicle.

Board members raised other items for revision: ensuring closed‑session confidentiality rules are explicit for elected and appointed officials; clarifying alcohol concentration thresholds; confirming that smoking and vehicle policies are aligned across sections; and detailing wellness incentives and vacation accrual. Several trustees said the manual should be consistent with private‑sector norms where appropriate while still complying with state law.

After discussion the board voted to table Ordinance 6a and directed staff to coordinate with the village attorney and return revised language at a later meeting.

The motion to table was approved by voice/consensus with the comments of record preserved. No final ordinance text was adopted at this meeting.