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It has been greener pastures for the city of LaFayette ever since George Green became the municipality’s jack-of-all-trades. This week, Green traveled to Monroeville to accept the Main Street Alabama Hero Award for his hard work with LaFayette Main Street. 

Green has served as the city’s Street, Sanitation and Cemetery superintendent since 2013. In those 11 years, he has come to wear many hats. 

At nearly any event or unveiling within the city, one can be sure to find Green somewhere in the crowd, either lending a hand as builder, supporting street events or overseeing road and building maintenance. 

From installing new culverts to repairing roads to inspecting buildings for lead and asbestos, Green and his crew have their work cut out for them. However, Green said, they don’t mind the work. In fact, with a dedicated team behind him, he aims to strive for consistent improvement each year. 

“My main goal is to see the city infrastructure improve,” he said.

Though he has a background in building and construction, Green has not been idle over the years. He also became a state certified industrial electrician and a certified asbestos and lead paint inspector. All of these skills have been put to use to the betterment of the city.

In recent years, the city has seen a resurgence of community events and small business development from the Chambers County Community Health and Wellness Center to the LaFayette Main Street designation to the Equitable Neighborhood Initiatives (ENI).

“LaFayette is open for business,” Green said. “It takes a community to grow.”

LaFayette Main Street is an organization that works to revitalize the economic development and tourism of downtown. In the past year, their director, DeAnna Hand, and committee members have worked closely with Green on projects such as the Portraits of Honor, the new city welcome sign and downtown’s benches and receptacles. 

“George Green has been instrumental to LaFayette Main Street,” Hand said. 

LaFayette citizens who enjoy joining the crowd on the square on Friday nights can also thank Green and his crew for their part in helping put the Food Truck Festivals together. 

“Some of the things that they do I wish we could have done,” Green said. “Main Street does a fantastic job. And anybody that’s trying to improve our city, that makes it really easy, and that makes us work a little bit harder to want to support them.”

People can see the handy work of Green and his crew at the Chambers County Community Health and Wellness Center, where they worked in overdrive to complete a brand-new pavilion sponsored by the Coosa Valley RC&D. 

Another upcoming project that Green is excited about is the renovation of the old city park. New walking trails and playground equipment will be installed thanks to efforts by the city and ENI. 

Green also puts in the hours with his Public Works projects for the city. He said that he aims to do as many improvement projects internally as possible to save the city time and expense.

However those projects also benefit Green’s crew by diversifying their skills and creating a more self-sufficient municipality.

Though no city could function without it, Public Works is a job that sometimes goes unnoticed by its citizens. One thing that many of those citizens might not realize is that it is only a department of 12. Still, Green praised his team for their hard work as well. 

Green said his drive for excellence comes from the good work ethic that he learned from his family, particularly his mother. He hopes to see that bleed into the rest of the city as well. 

“That kind of flowed over to my guys,” Green said. 

Green said one of things that makes his job easier is having a good working relationship and communication with the mayor and council. He will continue to work toward his goal of getting the city infrastructure in better condition.