Niemann retiring as Villa Park's village manager

In the end, Villa Park Village Manager Bob Niemann didn't want to work two more years.

The 59-year-old, who has worked for the village since 1978, said Wednesday he decided to retire rather than commit to at least two more years as Villa Park's top administrator.

"The timing was right for me," he said. "We had a difficult time agreeing on a length of time for a contract."

Niemann's last day will be June 30. He has held the village manager's post since 2003 when he was selected as interim manager while the village board sought a permanent replacement. In 2005, the board voted to remove the interim tag from Niemann's title. He held the post under three different village presidents.

"With 30-plus years with Villa Park, he's been a big part of a lot of things that have gone on here," Village President Tom Cullerton said.

Niemann's retirement package includes $35,000 a year for three years and health insurance coverage over the same time span. In exchange, Niemann will be available to the village in a consulting capacity to help with negotiations on a pending police union contract and economic development projects.

Finance Director Eric Dubrowski will become the interim village manager.

Niemann began working with the village as superintendent of parks and became director of parks and recreation in 1990. He spent five years before coming to Villa Park working for Elmhurst.

Niemann said he never envisioned becoming a village manager. He said he actually turned down an offer to be village manager in the 1990s.

"I learned to like the challenges of the job," he said.

Niemann said he was proud of the relationships he built over the years with village employees and noted he had been able to negotiate all the union contracts "without having to bring in attorneys." He also said he was happy with the amount of work done to get the village ready for economic development projects, but lamented that few projects have materialized.

"I think I would have liked to have seen a couple projects under construction or getting started, but like everyone else we've been a victim of the economy," he said. "But I'm happy that the infrastructure is in place to make way for development when people start building again."