Sawyer Loney is Chinook's new Superintendent of Streets

Sawyer Loney became Chinook's Superintendent of Streets back in late July. He succeeds Jim Teel who retired after thirty-seven years with the city, most of it in the position Loney now holds. I caught up with Sawyer recently at the City Shop to learn a bit about his personal history, his career to date with the city and his thoughts about how he might shape the position he now holds.

Sawyer Loney's background

First, I was curious about Sawyer's first name. He hails from the Eureka, Montana area and I thought maybe his family was in logging, a major economic driver in that region of the state, and his name had a literal meaning from his family. He smiled when he explained, "I do have family still in logging back in Eureka. But, my mom was a big fan of country singer Sawyer Brown and that's the origin of my first name." From Eureka the family lived in Kalispell for a short time, then settled in Havre, where Sawyer graduated high school in 2012. After high school he served in the Montana National Guard and during that installed technology on cell towers in the Denver area. From 2014 to 2018 he lived in Great Falls and did concrete work there.

Sawyer moved to Chinook in 2018 and worked on ranches around the area. In spring, 2020 he became a Street Maintenance Worker for the city of Chinook. His wife, Alex, is the Deputy City Clerk, having joined the city's workforce shortly before Sawyer. The couple lives in Chinook and has an eighteen-month-old son. Sawyer said about working for the city, "It's a steady job with good pay and the work hours allow me time to spend with my family. The work is varied and there's always something new for me to learn."

Sawyer Loney's new role as Superintendent of Streets

Asked about the general duties of his new job, Loney ticked them off: maintain the city's streets which includes everything from keeping the streets swept to patching and repairing them as needed; overseeing street closures as necessary for safety or repairs to infrastructure located under the streets; working with and overseeing outside contractors doing work to repair or upgrade distribution/collection systems or make improvements to other parts of the city's infrastructure. Opening and closing the swim pool each season is also part of the street department's responsibilities.

Knowing how to select and when to call in contractors for specific work needs is another part of Loney's new duties. He said he learned a lot with the upgrade of the water distribution system completed a couple of years ago. "I expect," he added, "to learn more about the wastewater treatment operation with a planned upgrade for that part of the city's infrastructure."

Early on as a city employee Loney recognized the need to be certified by outside agencies in order to perform certain functions for the city. He took classes, studied and passed certification tests required to oversee water distribution systems and operate low pressure boilers in use by the city.

What's next?

Asked about working with Jim Teel, his predecessor, Sawyer said, "Jim worked to help the street crew learn all they could. I believe he was preparing the two of us on the crew for his retirement." In a retirement interview Teel said to be successful in the position now held by Loney, "...you have to be a jack of all trades...all sorts of skills are needed to keep things going. ...he (Superintendent) needs to work alongside the crew doing the work. You have to be a teacher and you have to be patient."

Describing some challenges he sees in his new role, Loney said, "One of the biggest challenges is dealing with the aging water distribution and waste water collection systems. Many of our underground systems were installed in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's and with age they are more prone to problems and interruptions in service." One part of the solution to that problem is working through large numbers of old maps, plans and drawings to "digitize and update them and make it easier to pinpoint problems and get the needed parts and materials to fix disruptions when they occur."

Danyl Acosta, the second member of the Street Maintenance Department, has been with the city for about eight years. Next week James DesRosier, a city employee for the past five years and most recently working at the water treatment plant, will join the street maintenance crew to fill the vacancy created by Loney's promotion. Loney's advice to the new member of the team: "Show up ready to learn."

Asked to share his goal for the Street Maintenance Department Loney said, "My goal is to assure the functions under my responsibility in the city run as well as they did in the past and, hopefully, even better in the future."