Cole appointed as utilities director
Six months after being named acting director of utilities, Justen Cole can shed the “acting” from his title.
On Thursday, he was named as Vacaville's new utilities director, taking the reins from Curtis Paxton.
“I am pleased to announce Justen Cole as our next Director of Utilities,” City Manager Aaron Busch said in a statement. “He possesses more than 22 years of municipal water and wastewater experience. I have no doubt that Justen's prior experience and knowledge of Vacaville will lead him to success in this role.”
Before working for the city, Cole worked for the Sacramento County Sanitation District and the Sacramento County Water Agency. After that, he became an associate civil engineer for the city of Vacaville in 2006 before being promoted to senior civil engineer in 2015 and assistant utilities director in 2018.
During his 17 years with the city, Cole has been involved with such projects as the design and completion of several utility projects including the Wastewater Tertiary Plant Expansion, McMurtry Revisor and Booster Pumpstation, Reynolds Ranch Revisor, Allison Lift Station and Browns Valley Lift Station. He also created a long-term management strategy to protect groundwater and worked with other agencies to create the Solano GSA Collaborative to develop a groundwater sustainability plan, according to a city news release.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve Vacaville in this capacity,” Cole said in a statement. “I will continue to lead the Department with the charge of providing high quality and reliable water and wastewater services to our community.”