Two longtime Elgin employees retire

After about three decades working for the city of Elgin, former water director Kyla Jacobsen and former city engineer Joe Evers retired this fall, taking with them a great deal of institutional knowledge.

Jacobsen and Evers said they loved the challenging but rewarding work that often involved collaborating on projects. They helped Elgin grow from about 67,000 residents in the mid-1980s, when Randall Road had only two lanes, to its current 113,000 or so inhabitants, and extensive residential and commercial development to the west.

Evers, 56, started as a level I engineer in 1988 and became city engineer in 1993. He retired in September and now works part time for an engineering consulting firm. Losing a brother to cancer in 2015 made him think about his next steps, he said. "I figured, 'Get out while I have my health to do some other things," he said.

Jacobsen, 59, retired this month after starting as a chemist in 1986 and being named water director in 2005, one of few women in that role across the industry. She has received five job offers and will make a decision after the holidays, she added.

Jacobsen was named interim public services director in May, a role she held in 2013 under the previous city manager. This time, "it wasn't the right fit," she said, declining to elaborate. She retired a year earlier than planned at the encouragement of her mother, who died in October, she said.

The city should invest more in road and water main projects because its infrastructure is aging, they said. "The residents don't notice unless something is wrong ..." Jacobsen said. "All that infrastructure needs to be maintained, and to maintain it, it costs money."

Evers and Jacobsen praised water and public works employees, who too often don't get the credit they deserve, they said. In an effort to control costs, the public works department has become understaffed and employees are overworked as the city continues to grow, they said.

"Over the last 10 years, people got used to things getting done, and done well. Expectations kept going up, and the staff kept going down," Evers said. "And the people that are left behind are just going nuts."

Unlike public works, the water department has added employees over time and will gain two more in 2018. Jacobsen said she insisted at least two people be assigned to each shift after an employee was injured on the job about three years ago. "If that had happened when he was alone, he would not be here today," she said.

A major moment in Jacobsen's career was switching to all-computerized controls in 2000. She also had to deal with the widespread worry caused by the water crisis in Flint, Michigan in 2016, she said.

Evers said a memorable project was working on his first bridge during the Shales Parkway project in the late 1990s. He also dealt with many inflamed residents during the remapping of the city's flood plains, he said.

Both said their jobs became more complex, with increasing state and federal regulations.

Elgin eventually will have to deal with lead pipes, because the regulatory focus is shifting to governments' responsibility in helping residents replace their portion of pipes, Jacobsen said. "It's not just Elgin. Everybody is facing this."