Behind The Scenes: St. Cloud Public Works Keeps City Running At Its Best [VIDEO]

ST. CLOUD - Whether it’s snow removal, garbage collection or maintaining streetlights, an incredible amount of work and dedication goes on at the St. Cloud Public Works Department to keep the City of St. Cloud running efficiently.

Public Works is in charge of collecting garbage and recycling in St. Cloud. However, the department does much more than just that. Overall, Public Works is in charge of the operation, construction and maintenance of the city’s infrastructure.

Dan Legatt is the maintenance supervisor for St. Cloud Public Works, he says that a lot of pride goes into serving the community in the department.

"What I love about this job is serving the community, being out there helping former neighbors of mine," Legatt says.

Different divisions with certain responsibilities are found in the Public Works central maintenance building.

A large portion of workers are dedicated to cleaning and repairing the city streets and parking areas. Another group is in charge of installing and maintaining both city signs and street lights.

Another fascinating piece of the department is the operation of the city traffic lights. Cameras are mounted at many intersections in St. Cloud that act as motion sensors to direct traffic. Central maintenance has access to these cameras and can monitor traffic and make adjustments to traffic lights as needed.

While the cameras can be viewed anytime, recordings can't be made in order to maintain privacy and confidential information.

As a whole, the department operates to ensure the city of St. Cloud is running efficiently around the clock.

"We can offer so many services to the public, just so they can get as much value out of us that they can," Legatt says.