Trustees approve employee request to cash out 20 hours of comp time; police K-9 kennel wiring near completion

The Freeburg Village Board unanimously approved a motion Jan. 5 allowing employee Max Sallman to cash out 20 hours of compensatory time.

Trustee Elizabeth (Lisa) Meehling moved to accept the request; Trustee James (Mike) Blaies seconded and the motion passed on a recorded roll call of six ayes. The vote was recorded as: Meehling — aye; Blaies — aye; Dana Miller — aye; Robert (Bob) Kaiser — aye; Ramon Matchett Jr. — aye; Tom Carpenter — yea. The motion carried.

The vote followed a personnel and police committee report delivered by Meehling. The committee also received an update from Police Chief Mike Schutzenhofer, who summarized 107 calls to the department since the previous committee meeting and said Officer Andrew Hassel will return from military leave in late December. Chief Schutzenhofer told the committee the wiring for the new K-9 kennel should be finished Wednesday, the remaining step before placing the kennel into service.

Why it matters: The cash-out affects payroll accounting and compensatory-time balances for municipal employees; the K-9 kennel completion is an operational step for the department’s planned K-9 program.

Procedure and next steps: The motion recorded at the meeting implements the payroll change for Sallman; no additional financial detail was provided in the minutes. The police department will complete final kennel wiring and proceed with next steps for the K-9 unit, as reported.

Sources: Motion and roll call recorded in the Freeburg Village Board minutes for Jan. 5, 2026; personnel and police committee update presented at the meeting by Trustee Elizabeth (Lisa) Meehling and Chief Mike Schutzenhofer.