Following an extensive search, Dawson County has now found the next person to lead its public works department.
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During the Board of Commissioners’ Feb. 16 work session, Robert Drewry was announced as the county’s new public works director.
Drewry brings more than three decades of relevant experience to the role. He was selected following prior director Jeff Hahn’s departure this past fall.
Drewry graduated from Georgia Southern University with his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He worked for five-plus years as an assistant county engineer in Lowndes County before transferring to Chatham County in 1993, where he then held multiple engineering and public works-related jobs.
Drewry served as Chatham County’s Director of Public Works for 19 years before retiring in 2019 and later serving about a year in the same role for Milton, a city in Fulton County.
He then switched to a water management role in the private sector, but as Drewry put it during an interview with DCN, he was “anxious to get back into local government.”
“Serving the public is in my blood. I want to be a part of the local government and serve the community,” Drewry said.
He added that he “looks forward” to being a part of Dawsonville and the county, which he called “a growing community.”
Drewry has been on the job for about two weeks, he said.
Drewry also spoke during his interview about citizen concerns like the desire for recycling to resume at the county’s transfer station.
“With recycling,” he said, “one of my priorities stepping into this role is to get that back on track.”
Want to read more about recycling in Dawson County?
Here’s why the county paused its recycling program
and what changes are coming to the transfer station
facility located off of Burt Creek Road.
When introducing himself at the BOC’s meeting, Drewry acknowledged the “multiple high priorities” facing the county’s public works department and said he looks forward to working with the board as the county juggles handling each of those issues.
Over the course of the past 20 years, Drewry said he’s learned to adapt the scope of his responsibilities as public demands or needs have also changed.
“Learning and staying ahead of the needs of the public and in this, the county Board [of Commissioners] is probably the biggest thing to keep up with,” he said.