FREEBURG — Freeburg Village Clerk Nicki Bax will resign from her position in three months. She sent trustees an email with her resignation letter to be effective immediately, but after a phone conversation with them during a special meeting on Monday, March 31, Bax agreed to stay until the village finds a replacement.

Mayor Darryl Haller asked Bax why she had decided to resign.

“It just costs me too much to fly home,” said Bax, who splits her time between Freeburg and Dallas, Texas. “Flights have gone up a lot. I could fly home for $200 before, but now, it is way more than that. The money I make here is a lot more substantial than the money I make as the village clerk. It’s just not worth my time anymore.”

“There’s just a lot of stuff that we don’t know,” Haller said. “It’s going to put a tremendous amount of stress on the village over the next couple of months to figure things out. We have to advertise for new candidates. We have to make sure our bills are paid.”

Bax explained that she had already paid the bills due by the end of the month. She promised to have everything ready for the April meeting, but that said, she would not be able to attend physically.

“I can still be there until you find someone,” Bax said. “It’s not like I’m going to screw you guys over.”

“We’ll have to train someone, too,” Haller replied.

“That’s fine,” Bax said. “I’m not going to leave you guys high and dry. I will stay until you find someone else so I can train them. I can call in for the meeting on April 14, and I’ll send in a copy of all the bills.”

Bax added that she does not want to see the village go backward and hopes they can find someone who will work with QuickBooks.

Bax will set up a username and password for Haller so he can familiarize himself with the program.

She also plans to work up an advertisement for her position that can be posted in the Unterrified Democrat and will send it to Haller for approval.

Haller also asked Bax to start working on a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that explains everything that she does for the village as a part of her job.

Bax said that she spends about 25 hours per week as the clerk. Haller believes that there is a way to streamline the job so that it requires less time.

“I think for the next village clerk, we are not going to give out the cell phone number,” Haller said. “Everyone can contact us by email.”

Haller especially doesn’t believe that the village clerk should be fielding calls and questions about the trash services.

“They have a procedure in place; they need to call Republic Services directly,” Haller said.

“I don’t think people know that,” said Water Clerk Cindy Struemph. “They call me about the trash service, too.”

Haller said that they should note this on the village website and Facebook page.

Trustees temporarily approved Haller signing checks and moving money around in the village bank accounts.

Bax plans to be back in Freeburg on April 17.

Haller agreed to reevaluate the situation in three months.

The next meeting is Monday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m.