Long-time town employee retires
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ST. IGNATIUS — After a dozen years monitoring the town’s water system, filling potholes, plowing snow, mowing grass and doing just about anything else you can think of, one of the busiest people in St. Ignatius has retired from his job with the town.
But former public works director Ray Frey said he’s had no problem keeping busy since his last day of work Dec. 31. Cleaning and organizing his shop gave him plenty to do over the past two weeks — “I got lots of stuff to do until I run out of stuff,” he said.
Twelve years ago, Frey was hired as the town’s first public works director, a job that entailed operating the water and sewer system as well as handling all sorts of housekeeping work for the town, city clerk LeeAnn Gottfried explained.
“He does all the town’s maintenance,” she said. “It’s a huge job.”
This time of year, snowplowing is the public works director’s main task, a fact Scott Morton, the new holder of the position, is quickly learning.
“He’s getting a baptism in something,” Frey joked.
Morton has worked as the town’s backup water and sewer operator for a decade, Gottfried said, filling in part-time for Frey when needed. Unofficially, Frey plans to replace Morton as backup operator after January — essentially swapping positions with him. After Frey’s retirement, the town has to wait 30 days before hiring him for the part-time position.
With his newfound “free time,” Frey said he plans to get back into construction work, and he won’t be stepping down from his position as fire chief of the St. Ignatius Volunteer Fire Department.
“It just seemed like a really good time,” he said of his decision to retire.
From a new sewer system and fire hall addition to paving many of the streets around town, “There’s been a lot of progress over the last 11 years,” Frey said.
He added that he’s glad to have served the town for so long and to be leaving his job in Morton's capable hands.
