HUTTO – Concerns with transportation issues including traffic flow on major roads and streets, as well as street maintenance, top the list of projects the city’s new public works director plans to tackle.
A 2022 survey by the ETC Institute revealed that while residents were happy with the city overall, transportation issues prompted some common discontent. Only 16.5% of residents said they were satisfied with the movement of traffic on major roads, and just 20.4% were satisfied with the flow on city streets.
“I keep a running list of things to be done and it’s one of the top items,” said Rick Coronado, who started as public works director March 6. “Street maintenance and a program of refurbishing the streets is something I’m going to be presenting in the budget process.”
Coronado’s role calls for him to provide leadership and administrative direction on major public-works activities, including street and drainage maintenance, water and wastewater-line maintenance, fleet management, facility maintenance, infrastructure improvements and construction inspection.
“I’ve been in Hutto for 20 years now. I know day-in and dayout there are needs in this community,” Coronado said. “That makes it even more important to me to make sure residents know there is a passion behind my doing this, and also a commitment to getting things done.”
He added, “I’m taking all the skill sets and knowledge learned over three decades to apply to a community that I live, work and play in.”
Coronado said his tasks include assessing operations, identifying challenges and gaps and then tackling those areas. He said the job involves plenty of collaboration, both inside his department and with managers in the field on water, street and construction.
“This city is run by people and so one of those things that we definitely rely on is the workforce. I’m looking to hire more team members who align with our core values and will make the community a better place to live,” Coronado said.
Coronado holds a Texas Professional Engineering license and a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Class A water operator license. His experience includes working his way up to chief operating officer and assistant direction of operations and maintenance for Austin Water Utility, where he oversaw a team of 800 employees.
“Right now it’s getting back to basics to understand what the community really needs and making sure that’s what we’re doing. The public expects something and we’re here to make sure that happens,” Coronado said. “We’re a continuous-improvement organization.”
