Bethany Watson
Canton’s City Engineer
What is your background?
I have been with the city of Canton for almost nine years. After high school, I attended the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. After college, I worked for the city of Carrollton for five years as the lab manager at the water treatment plant. From there, I joined Team Canton as the assistant city engineer and gained my current title two years ago.
What is your main responsibility?
As city engineer, my main responsibilities include transportation engineering, construction management and development review. This includes monitoring traffic and transportation concerns, managing land-disturbing activities, and overseeing a wide variety of capital improvement projects.
Describe a “typical” day on the job.
With an array of job duties and responsibilities, every day is a little different. But that’s also what makes it fun! Capital project management takes up the bulk of most days, which might include progress meetings with contractors or design engineers, creating and maintaining financial documents, reviewing submittals and site visits. When not working on current projects, I am generally reviewing new development plans, inspecting resident complaints for stormwater and erosion issues, or managing current land-disturbing activities.
What do you like most about your job?
The best thing about my job is that I genuinely enjoy what I do. I work in a role that allows me to take my nerdy engineering side and mesh it with my desire to serve others. All of the projects I currently work on are going to make our residents’ quality of life better, and that is so important to me. The Canton community is so supportive of all the work that the city puts in daily. It is truly a blessing to serve such a great community.
Describe a memorable work experience.
Working in new development can sometimes be challenging, especially in the rain. Once, during a very heavy rain, we received a complaint of mud washing down a hill. So, I grabbed my knee-high muck boots, hopped in the truck and headed out. Once at the site, I proceeded onto the site to survey the damage. The thing about water and mud is, it is like quicksand when extremely saturated. My foot came right out of the boot and, before I could even react, I was thigh high in mud, standing in my socks. Needless to say, I’m glad I made the habit of having an extra set of clothes at work!
What are you looking forward to this year?
I am most looking forward to completing the city’s Transportation Master Plan. With this plan adoption, the city will have a guide to new transportation projects, including sidewalks and trails. This plan will help the city make informed decisions, apply for grants and funding, and prioritize city transportation projects. Other projects that I am super excited about, that are currently in the works, are the West Main Pedestrian Corridor project, which will connect downtown to The Mill on Etowah, and the new pedestrian bridge over the Etowah in the vicinity of The Mill.
What are your goals?
Over the next few years, I really plan to dig into developing sustainable practices for development, increasing connectivity within the city and Cherokee County, and developing implementable plans for transportation-related projects. I plan to become green infrastructure-certified, as well as a certified flood plain manager, both of which will help Canton maintain its natural environment.
How do you like to spend free time?
My husband, Cody, and I have five children — Kaiden (17), Makenley (11), Noelle (11), Camden (7) and Brooks (5) — so the majority of my free time is spent enjoying watching my children grow, supporting them in their hobbies and being a present mom. I absolutely love to travel, do math puzzles and play Minesweeper.
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