By Bay Stephens EBS LOCAL EDITOR
BIG SKY – Community members and county
commissioners from Madison and Gallatin counties convened in the Talus Room at
Big Sky Resort on April 10 for the biannual Big Sky Chamber of Commerce-organized
Eggs and Issues, and the joint county commissioner meeting to discuss water
issues facing Big Sky and better facilitate shared governance of the
unincorporated area between the two counties.
Madison County Commissioners Ron Nye and Jim
Hart, as well as commissioners from the Gallatin side, Joe Skinner, Don Seifert
and Scott MacFarlane were informed as to the challenges facing and successes
underway in the Big Sky community.
For Eggs and Issues, Karen Filipovich,
representing the Gallatin River Task Force, spoke on the need to reduce excess
nutrients in the Gallatin River and to safeguard sufficient water supply,
benefiting the waterways and residents and visitors that enjoy them. Big Sky
Sewer and Water District General Manager Ron Edwards presented as well,
briefing the commissioners on the $21 million wastewater treatment plant
upgrade in response to Big Sky’s rapid growth and limited effluent disposal
options.
Edwards also touched on the need to find
more water to supply growing visitor populations, as well as other BSWSD
initiatives underway, such as implementing a water metering system that would
allow the district to monitor, in real time, how much water is being used
where, expanding the purple pipe in collaboration with Big Sky Town Center,
exploring different sewer rate options for commercial vs. residential
ratepayers, and once more issuing sewer impact fees for development.
For the Madison and Gallatin Counties Joint
Commission Meeting, the commissioners heard presentations from representatives
of the U.S. Census Bureau; Big Sky Community Organization; Big Sky Chamber of
Commerce; Visit Big Sky; Gallatin River Task Force; Logan Simson, the
Colorado-based company hired by the Big Sky Resort Area District tax board; Big
Sky Transportation District; Big Sky School District; and Habitat for Humanity
of Gallatin County.
Jeri Bucy, the Montana U.S. Census Bureau
Partnership Specialist, shared with attendees the importance of facilitating
full engagement for the 2020 census. She said $2,000 federal dollars are
allocated to every Montanan counted, so that one uncounted person constitutes
$20,000 in lost funding from the federal government over the course of a
decade.
“The census is really all about
allocating resources back to communities,” Bucy said. She added that if the
count numbers are right, there’s a chance Montana gains a seat in the U.S.
Congress.
Big Sky Transportation District board
chair Ennion Williams added that the census is also key to determining how
transportation funds are allocated. Funding is the limiting factor for what the
district can offer, Ennion said, and that their ridership growth appears to
have flattened because the buses are at capacity. The TIGER grant, which is
slated to be signed at the end of April, will provide four more buses by
January of next year, but does not ultimately pay for drivers, he said.
The Big Sky Community Organization has major
trailhead upgrades in store on both sides of the county line, according to
executive director Ciara Wolfe.
As soon as the snow melts, Wolfe said
contractors will break ground to expand the Beehive Basin trailhead to increase
available parking, and to install a pit toilet, trash receptacles and a trailhead
kiosk; upgrades to the Ousel Falls trailhead will be designed this summer with construction
expected to commence the following summer.
Wolfe announced that BSCO has raised $12
million of its $17 million goal for the community center in Big Sky Town Center,
informing the audience that the full plan will be revealed at the end of April.
Logan Simpson’s Megan Moore, one of the
consultants conducting the Strategic Visioning Strategy to ultimately guide the
resort tax board in its allocation of funds, updated audience members on the
process thus far.
“In all the communities we’ve worked in,
I’ve never seen so much engagement,” Moore said. “The people here have a real
passion for their community.”
Of the responses received at this point,
Moore shared several patterns of note: while most people visited Big Sky for the
outdoor and recreational amenities, with no intention of permanent residence,
the community members they encountered and high quality of life swayed them to
stay. An aspect many respondents deeply appreciate about Big Sky is that everyone
chooses to be here.
“Already you have common values to
connect over,” Moore said.
Areas of improvement in respondents’
minds had to do with developing appropriate infrastructure, safeguarding the
environment, caring for families and employees, and the need for an overarching
vision that ties all of Big Sky’s entities together.
