Sometimes, smaller is better.

At least that is the viewpoint of Chuck Hendricksen, whom Pacific’s City Council confirmed Monday night as the new city engineer.

Hendricksen, 46, said he has worked for about nine years as a civil engineer for Pierce County. But Hendricksen said he became interested in Pacific because the job would provide him with “more experiences.”

He succeeds Jim Morgan, who was promoted in April to be the City’s public works director. Morgan, who continued to work as Pacific’s engineer until the position was filled, was involved with the hiring of Hendricksen.

“He brings a broad-based experience from the private-sector side,” said Morgan, adding that the hiring of Hendricksen also fulfilled one of his objectives, to find a successor with more stormwater drainage experience than he has.

Hendricksen said he still is becoming familiar with Pacific, but understands the city has suffered flooding issues in the past. In January 2009, the White River spilled floodwaters over its banks and damaged more than 110 homes and 10 businesses, leaving $15 million in losses in its wake. One-fifth of the city’s 6,000 residents were displaced at the time.

“It looks like there’s going to be some drainage challenges with the flood plain and getting around that,” Hendricksen said.

In an effort to mitigate that, work on the Lower White River Countyline Levee Setback Project is underway and should be finished in December 2017. That project, which is budgeted at $19 million, is constructing a new, 6,000-lineal-foot setback levee along the landward edge of a forested buffer to protect existing properties and structures. A 5,780-lineal-foot, bio-engineered bank revetment is also being built along the existing wetland edge for the same purposes.

Hendricksen, who starts Aug. 23, said he looks forward to his new opportunity, even though he will continue to commute from his home in Tumwater. He said that won’t be much of an issue, though, as he already commutes from his home to Tacoma for work four days per week.

Morgan said he told the council that a specific schedule has not been established yet for Hendricksen, who also is an assistant wrestling coach at Tumwater High School, but added he will be allowed to work from home, at times.

Mayor Leanne Guier is excited to have Hendricksen and Morgan working together.

“They’re going to complement each other really well,” she said. “With the two of them working together, I feel like we’re going to have the power duo working on the public works projects. It’s going to be quite a dynamic team.”