From the City of Sugar Land:
Members of the southeast branch of the Texas American Public Works Association elected Sugar Land Executive Director of Public Works as the chapter’s president.
The association focuses on professional growth, knowledge sharing and building meaningful connections that strengthen Public Works – efforts intended to keep communities safe and improve quality of life.
Public Works employees are the heartbeat of any city. They maintain water, sewer and storm pipe networks, drinking water production, sanitary sewage treatment, solid waste handling, roadway and sidewalk repair/replacement, traffic signals, facility equipment maintenance and much more.
According the National League of Cities: “Public works workers are the backbone of essential services provided throughout the community. Public Works workers keep our cities moving day or night, regardless of rain, sleet, snow, wind and extreme heat.”
Butscher’s appointment is the latest recognition of his contributions to public service. Last year, he received the John German Award for Exemplary Service to Public Works from the Texas American Public Works Association.
His leadership of a multi-million dollar operation at Sugar Land includes the efficient operation and maintenance of the city’s public streets, traffic control devices, sidewalks, bridges and drainage system.
The public works team is responsible for 12 groundwater treatment plants, one surface water plan, four wastewater treatment plans, 134 lift stations, 23 ground water wells, four elevated storage tanks, a 400 mile water distribution system, subsidence district coordination and water conservation programs.
They also maintains 846 miles of sidewalks, 445 lane miles of streets, a state-of-the-art Traffic Management Center.
Butscher’s leadership has resulted in financial savings, operational efficiencies and quality-of-life improvements, including mobility projects that continue to address one of the top priorities identified by Sugar Land residents. He continues to be responsive the needs of residents by providing opportunities for residents to fund projects identified as important.
Other recent examples of his leadership follow:
– A $1.1 million Advanced Meter Infrastructure project is being implemented to provide real time water use information to the city and its residents. AMI is expected to reduce water losses in the city’s water distribution system with improved customer meter accuracy, reduced unauthorized consumption, reduced data transfer/archive errors, reduced data billing errors and reduced customer-side leaks by identifying uncharacteristic water use.
– A 14-member citizen-led committee spent more than two years developing the city’s Integrated Water Resource Plan. The IWRP is a comprehensive planning process used to evaluate a wide mix of policies, management strategies and capital improvement projects while building consensus and support from decision-makers and other stakeholders affected by the recommendations.
Butscher was named public works director in 2021 after serving as deputy director since 2020. He was the interim director of Information and Technology during 2020. He was hired as Sugar Land’s assistant director of public works in 2015. He has also served as assistant director of public works for the city of Corpus Christi and an engineer at Ward, Getz & Associates, LLP and Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, Inc.
Butscher received a bachelors in ocean engineering from Texas A&M University and a masters of public administration from Texas A&M Corpus Christi.