Nov. 25--For the first time in months, it was back to business as usual in Fox Lake, village officials said at a Tuesday night board meeting.
"Tonight is a special night," Mayor Donny Schmit said. "We only have one member of the media, and we have a special guest."
That special guest was a man dressed as Santa Claus, in town to help the village promote its holiday parade and tree lighting ceremony coming up on Saturday.
The name of Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, a veteran Fox Lake police officer who authorities said committed suicide Sept. 1 fearing alleged criminal activity would soon come to light, didn't come up once.
Focused on their meeting agenda, trustees voted to approve changes to portions of the village-wide employee personnel manual covering employee conduct, outside employment and a drug and alcohol testing policy.
Village Administrator Anne Marrin said those changes had been in the works long before Gliniewicz's death, part of a village-wide review of policies and procedures begun after she was hired in 2014.
Marrin said the personnel manual hadn't been changed since 2007 and the revisions update Fox Lake's policies to make sure they're complying with current state and federal laws.
Among the changes approved Tuesday night, all passed unanimously, was a policy requiring employees obtain permission before seeking a second, non-village job, rules for ensuring outside employment didn't create conflicts of interest with the village and a ban on using village employees or resources for outside work.
"It's really to protect the village," Marrin said.
