John Collins named Director of Utilities for Amarillo

John Collins has been named Director of Utilities for the City of Amarillo. Collins was officially announced Tuesday to Amarillo City Council.

Collins is responsible for water production and distribution, wastewater collection, water reclamation and the environmental laboratory.

“John brings a wide array of expertise and experience to the City of Amarillo,” said COA Assistant City Manager Floyd Hartman. “He has accumulated expertise with most types of public infrastructure over a four-decade career and has headed several major performance and infrastructure improvement efforts.”

Collins has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University and is a licensed professional engineer in the states of Louisiana, Nebraska and Texas. He began his career with Louisiana Facility Planning and Control.

Collins moved to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, working in several positions, including overseeing roads, drainage, traffic, railroads, fleet, telecommunications, buildings and emergency services.

Collins was also City Engineer/Public Works Director for the City of Grand Island, Nebraska. He was responsible for the city’s engineering activities and managed eight divisions: Administration, Engineering, Fleet Services, MPO, Streets and Drainage, Solid Waste, Transit and Wastewater.