The Public Works Department is Dalton’s “Swiss Army knife”: Anything that needs to be done, they can take care of.
Whether it’s clearing the roads after a dangerous storm knocks down trees, collecting garbage and recycling in a tropical storm, or simply hanging flower planters and adding seasonal color to decorations downtown, the Public Works Department does a lot of work that the general public might not even realize is happening. That work is the focus of the latest episode of the city’s podcast Live, Work, Play. The episode has been posted and features an interview with Public Works Department Director Chad Townsend.
“You hit the nail on the head when you said (we’re) essentially the city’s Swiss Army knife,” Townsend said during the interview. “There hasn’t been really anything that we’ve been hit with that we haven’t been able to overcome. I’ve got a group of men and women that’ll literally go to the end of the Earth to make sure the city still functions as it should.”
The episode provides an overview of all of the different functions of the Public Works Department. Townsend also discusses different situations over the past few years when the department’s staff was needed to step up to make sure the city stayed on track, including the Sanitation Division recently performing garbage and recycling collections in the pre-dawn hours as the remnants of Hurricane Helene were forecast to hit Northwest Georgia.
The podcast launched in the fall of 2023 and is intended to shine a light on all of the things the city government is doing to make the community Georgia’s best community for people to live, work and play. It includes interviews with city leaders elected, appointed and also those simply leading at a grassroots level. It profiles city employees, projects and initiatives. And it talks about all of the wonderful things that make Dalton a special place.
The podcast is available on Spotify, Amazon and Apple podcasts. A video version of the podcast can be viewed on the city’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/CityofDaltonGeorgia.
The podcast is produced and recorded in the Podcast Lab at the Mack Gaston Community Center. The lab is available for use by the public free of charge. Use of the lab can be reserved by contacting community center staff during business hours at (706) 278-8205.