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 of Dalton's podcast, "Live, Work, Play." The episode was posted on Tuesday afternoon 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," Mr. Townsend said during his 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 will go to the end of the earth to make sure the City still functions as it should."
The podcast episode provides an overview of all of the different functions of the Dalton Public Works Department. Mr. Townsend also discusses different situations over the past few years when the department's staff was needed to step up to make sure that 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 "Live, Work, Play" podcast launched in the fall of 2023 and is intended to shine a light on all of the things that the city's government is doing to make the community Georgia's best community for people to live, work and play. That will include interviews with city leaders, both elected, appointed and also those simply leading at a grass roots level. It will include profiling city employees, projects and initiatives. And it will also involve talking 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 also be viewed on the City of Dalton's YouTube channel at YouTube.com/CityofDaltonGeorgia.