Mineral Wells Area News

By Gary Norman / Mineral Wells Area News

The City of Mineral Wells has added Nathan Buschow as a contracted Assistant Director in the Public Works Department. The Mineral Wells City Council approved his one-year contract during its Nov. 4 meeting at a cost of $132,000. Funding for the position was included in the Fiscal Year 2025–2026 budget.

According to supporting documents for the agenda item, Buschow will assist the City with capital project management and delivery, as well as operational efficiency and organizational structure reviews. He will also work closely with the City Manager and Public Works Director to identify a permanent Assistant Public Works Director.

A native of Mineral Wells, Buschow graduated from Mineral Wells High School before attending Texas A&M University, where he earned a degree in animal science. After returning home, he entered the construction and manufacturing industry, managing project delivery, regulatory compliance, purchasing, scheduling, sales, and financial projections.

Much of his professional work has centered on providing water and wastewater products to municipalities, giving him an inside view of how cities operate. “I have always kind of been interested in infrastructure relating to water in this particular part of the world,” he said. “I had a lot of interest in those processes, and through those businesses, I kept taking further steps into infrastructure-type products.”

Buschow praised the City’s long-term focus on streets, drainage, and utility infrastructure. “With the expenditures that we’ve all seen in other areas, it’s very critical that we plan out further and try and be more proactive than reactive,” he said. “The reactive plan has a tendency to have a high budget failure rate.”

He also pointed to mowing operations as an area where the City could potentially see immediate efficiency improvements. Multiple departments currently have mowing crews, and Buschow suggested it may be beneficial to combine them or outsource some or all of the work.

“Right now, the mowing contract has been up first and foremost, mostly in order to get that pushed out before spring and go through the bid process,” he said. “Then we’ll move into the longer five-year, ten-year plans, because they are going to be harder to implement. There’s going to be a lot more data, a lot more decision making.”

Buschow said his transition into the role has been smooth, thanks to his deep roots in the community. “I’ve been here all my life, and I’ve dealt with most of these people. I probably knew well over fifty percent by name, so it’s been a great experience,” he said. “There are a lot of good people out there that want to do a good job.”

Mineral Wells City Manager Jason Weeks said Buschow’s experience and leadership will strengthen operations within the City’s largest and most complex department.

“We’re excited to welcome Nathan as our new Assistant Public Works Director,” Weeks said. “Public Works is our largest and most complex department, and with water and sewer being two of our City’s most critical services, having someone with Nathan’s project management and oversight experience is invaluable. His background in strategic planning and prioritization will help strengthen our operations, support our growing community, and keep essential services running smoothly for our residents.”