Etling takes severance package from Shiloh

Norm Etling is moving on to brighter days.

The former Shiloh village engineer has accepted a six-month severance package from the village. He was given 21 days to consider the agreement.

“I think it’s a fair offer, and I’ve accepted it. I wanted a lawyer to review it before I did anything, which was recommended to me,” Etling said.

Etling, 64, signed the separation agreement on June 16, and Mayor Jim Vernier signed it the following day, according to documents secured through Freedom of Information Act requests made by the Progress.

His last day of employment was June 7.

Etling will receive 14 biweekly payments from the village payroll through the end of December, which began June 24, according to village clerk Brenda Kern.

Each installment payment is $4,423.20, according to the agreement, which totals $61,924.80 in addition to the $51,190.07 already earned for the year as of June 10.

Additionally, if Etling elects to continue health coverage under COBRA, the village will pay the full cost of his health insurance coverage through December 31.

Also stipulated in the separation agreement is if Etling were to return as “from time to time following his voluntary separation” the village will pay him $150 per hour for work he performs.

After the village of Shiloh trustees discussed a personnel issue for less than 15 minutes in executive session on June 6, the board voted to eliminate the engineering department and laying off the village’s one and only lead engineer. The news was delivered to Etling over the phone by village administrator John Marquart minutes after the board meeting convened.

“I was at the meeting but I don’t usually stay for the closed session unless they need me to. I had no idea they were going to do away with the engineering department, but I was planning to retire in October,” Etling said.

Previously, Vernier has said he stands by the board’s decision to eliminate the engineering department, and by default laying off the only lead engineer.

The engineering department had three employees: Etling, engineer since 1995; Mike Campbell, zoning inspector since 2013, and administrative assistant Kathy Wangler since 2008. Etling was the only employee affected by the decision.

Marquart said the staff would be placed in other areas of the village staff to compensate where assistance is needed.

“Campbell will continue doing zoning inspections,” Marquart said.

Prior to 1995, Etling said all of Shiloh’s engineering projects were outsourced to Thouvenot, Wade & Moerchen Engineering Inc. (TWM) because there was no engineering department in Shiloh before Etling came from the city of Belleville.

Vernier said all current and future engineering services and oversight will return to TWM, as “they already do most of it anyway, so we will save the village money in the long run.”

Follow the money

When Etling was hired by former Mayor Norm Acker, who spearheaded the creation of the position with the implementation of a new ordinance (2.06) passed on March 18, 1995 by the board of trustees.

Under his initial hiring agreement in 1995, Etling’s intended salary was to be $40,000 for the first six months of employment. It would then increase to $43,000 annually after his probationary period lapsed. He was also provided a car and clerical help. Among his job benefits included 10 days of vacation; health insurance paid in full; $50,000 life insurance policy; and, 12 holidays annually.

Annually, Etling was eligible, along with other village employees, to get increases around 3.5 percent as of May 1, 1996.

In 1996, Etling received $47,391.05 with every year thereafter increasing from as high as $6,935.36 to as low as $58.22. The only exception is in 2010 Etling earned $102,516.02, which dropped to $90,883.28 in 2011 — an $11,632.74 drop.

Kern said Etling was on worker’ compensation, which is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence.

“He stepped in a hole while out in the field inspecting a sewer or road complaint,” Kern said. “He twisted his knee badly, that’s why there was a discrepancy in his wages during that time.”

Other increase fluctuations were attributed to Etling’s eligibility for 3.5 percent increases and bonuses given.

In 2015, the board voted to put a cap on staff salaries, not to exceed $115,000 annually, and did it again in 2016. Etling was the highest paid employee by the village.

What’s next?

Keeping busy with volunteering and continuing to carry out his responsibilities as a board member for the Home Builders Association of Greater Southwest Illinois (HBA), Etling said he hopes “someone will scoop me up eventually.”

“With all of my decades of experience as a civil engineer in the metro-east, I feel like I still have a lot I could contribute,” Etling said.

In the meantime Etling, has turned to volunteering to keep himself engaged in the community.

“I have all of this free time, so I figured I’d put it to good use,” Etling said. “This was my first golf tourney. Usually, I didn't have the time to skip out of work. It is very fitting that the first one was an opportunity to volunteer at the tournament for my friend Herschel. (Johnson).”

Tracy Butler, executive director of the HBA, had nothing but the highest accolades.

“Norm has been such an asset over the years, always at our events and helping when it’s needed,” Butler said.

Etling said the HBA has a great group of folks, fun to work with, and they’re organized.

“It was a great opportunity to chat with all of the participants and the Home Builder’s staff,” Etling said.

In February, Johnson was posthumously honored at a banquet for the HBA.

His wife, Jan Johnson, and son and business partner at Garrett E. and Herschel E. Johnson Real Estate and Development LLC, accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on his behalf.

Johnson died unexpectedly in his sleep July 15, 2015, in Belleville.

Lifetime achievement

Etling just received an award from the American Society of Civil Engineers — recognition as a ‘Life Member.’

“I have been a member since college — the dark ages when we used slide rules,” Etling said, who graduated with an undergraduate degree in civil engineering in 1973 from the University of Missouri-Rolla.

A Life Member is an individual who has made a lifetime commitment to ASCE and the civil engineering profession by remaining a member for the full length of their professional career.

“It is humbling to be recognized by your peers for a lifetime of dedication and service to Civil Engineering and I hope to continue to contribute,” Etling said.

Etling served on the National Land Use Committee for the The Transportation and Development Institute, and is a key contact for the organization.

It is a specialty membership organization focused on transportation and development professionals and the transportation and development industry. It is one of the American Society of Civil Engineer's nine specialty Institutes.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Etling takes severance package from Shiloh."