Behind the Scenes With Billy Allen
July 11, 2011
By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal
Greenwood, SC - For nearly 20 years, Billy Allen has worked behind the scenes to help ensure the City of Greenwood is a clean place to live, work and play and to make sure the dirty work gets done.
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And, when he has time, he likes to squeeze in a tennis match every now and then.
Allen is the City of Greenwood's public works director. Greenwood city manager Charlie Barrineau said Allen was hired by the city in May 1991 as a crew chief.
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City Public Works director Billy Allen oversees the progress made in Uptown Greenwood on Wednesday morning as a CPW crew prepares the area for the Festival of Discovery. (SAM O'KEEFE | INDEX-JOURNAL)
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He was promoted by then-city manager Steve Brown to street division superintendent in September 2001. Allen was promoted to public works director in May 2004.
As he and his public works staff worked last week to prepare the Uptown Greenwood area for the South Carolina Festival of Discovery, Allen took time to reflect on his career and the public works department's role in the city.
He said it has been interesting to watch the city change through the last two decades, particularly Uptown Greenwood.
"I've really enjoyed seeing the city grow, especially the Uptown," Allen said. "I think it has been a big plus for Greenwood for the Uptown to develop into what it has become."
According to Allen, the public works department has a number of duties, including maintaining city streets and rights of way and the collection of household garbage and other items that residents put on the side of the road, like limbs, grass clippings and household appliances. The public works department also cuts grass on the shoulders of roadways, cleans ditches, patches potholes on city streets and performs a number of other duties, including maintaining West Cambridge Park.
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