Joining Big Sky’s water and sewer district in 1995, Edwards oversaw decades of Big Sky growth
By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
Ron Edwards, general manager of the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District, just finished his final project on Friday, Dec. 20: passing the baton to new leadership. Edwards’ retirement marks his 39th project completed in 30 years at the water and sewer district.
Since 1995, Edwards has overseen one of Big Sky’s most important resources, first getting Big Sky out of a moratorium on building in the ‘90s, and most recently delivering Big Sky its new Water Resource Recovery Facility.
“My goal when I came here is to stay one step ahead of the development pressure and stay off the front page of the newspaper, if I can help it,” Edwards told EBS. (No promises on the latter.) The story of Edwards’ career begins with a newspaper clipping in a postal envelope, though it could be argued fate aligned sooner, when he met his wife Karla at the University of Montana.
The pair got married in 1980, and eight years later, Edwards began working in Green Lake, Wisconsin. During that time, he received a letter from Karla’s mom. She had carved out a newspaper job posting for the general manager of the BSCWSD, a newly founded provider between Bozeman and West Yellowstone.
It turned out that Big Sky’s water and sewer needed a leader, fast. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality, which formerly operated under the Montana Department of Health, had suspended all building in Big Sky in 1993, a message to the unincorporated area that something needed to be done about their wastewater infrastructure.
Bentonite clay used in existing infrastructure led to leakage from the bottom of storage ponds, according to Edwards. Though the material can be useful in other locations, it turned out Big Sky wasn’t a good fit for the gel-like clay, especially without a material liner. When Edwards started, he was tasked with making a new facilities plan and sending it to DEQ.
The DEQ lifted the moratorium seven months after Edwards’ first day, and just like that Big Sky was allowed to grow again.
Twenty-eight years later, Edwards cut the ribbon on a brand new $50 million Water Resource Recovery Facility that will be able to process 1.4 million gallons maximum on a daily basis. The average will likely be 960,000 gallons and will grow as Big Sky does.
“It doesn’t always work out that way when you’re doing these big infrastructure projects,” Edwards said. “So I feel very fortunate that we had the team we had on it.”
The WRRF kept Edwards around one more year beyond his expected retirement to see the build completed. Now, he feels he’s ready to move on. “I feel good about retiring knowing we have built Big Sky a great treatment plant that’ll service the community for a very long time.”
Terry Smith, financial officer of BSCWSD, noted that the new facility is one of Edwards’ greatest accomplishments. With four years of construction, the site, according to Smith, “could have been a huge mess.” But he said with Edwards’ leadership, it stayed on track.
He commended Edwards’ leadership style. “He allowed people to work and learn,” Smith said. In doing so, the former general manager acted as a guide, empowering employees to step into their roles on their own. Smith has worked next to Edwards since 2001 and plans to retire soon, leaving Big Sky’s water and sewer in all new hands.
On Tuesday, Dec. 18, the BSCWSD boardroom filled with employees, partners and friends to celebrate the year’s end, and Edwards’ retirement.
Conversations quieted as the new district clerk, Amy Sand, began a toast to Ron.
“Thank you so much for all the time and energy that you’ve given not only to this community, but to me in particular … it’s been wonderful working with you. I wish I had more time,” Sand said. Edwards responded, saying that he promises not to fully disappear on the water and sewer district.
Sand began working with the water and sewer district eight months ago. She told EBS that Edwards has a wealth of historical knowledge and expertise. A lesson she values is from his process of learning as much as possible about a situation before problem-solving.
“Listening is a huge part of this job … it is very complex so it’s really important to listen and gather as much information as possible and then get answers,” Sand said.
Board member Dick Fast, echoed some of Sand’s sentiments in an interview with EBS. “He’s just a good person to work with, fun person to work with,” Fast said. As a leader, Fast said Edwards listens, and has a very gentle persuasive way of getting things done. He agreed that the WRRF was a major milestone for Edwards.
“It was a long project with a lot of surprises,” Fast said.
Longtime friend and coworker, Brian Wheeler, president of the BSCWSD board will miss Edwards’ calming presence. “He was steady in times of challenge,” Wheeler said. He remembers how Edwards would approach stressful problems calmly, taking a few breaths and moving forward toward a solution.
Outside of work, Wheeler believes Edwards is the best family man he’s ever met in his life. “I consider it an honor to be his friend,” Wheeler said.
When Edwards made a tally of all the accomplishments he made over the years, he found the list kept growing. It totaled 39 completed projects, though Edwards thinks he may have left out a few in the exercise. He hopes that the water and sewer team will continue to tackle problems with an even-keeled attitude.
“Almost every problem we’ve been up against takes commitment and level-headed thinking to do that,” Edwards said. As for the future, Edwards doesn’t doubt there will be challenges. “You know, the growth is always a thing here.”
He emphasized that growth aside, it’s a great community. For a man committed to seeing things through, Edwards made peace with passing on some in-progress tasks to the next leader, General Manager Johnny O’Connor.
Without Edwards, the BSCWSD will continue forward with lessons from the diplomatic nature of their former general manager.
