Member Portrait: Robert Massengill, CIty of Raleigh
Monday, April 25, 2016
This Member Portrait was originally printed in the Spring 2016 issue of NC Currents magazine.
One of Robert Massengill’s proudest accomplishments since joining the City of Raleigh in 2003 is the implementation of the Urban Main Replacement Reimbursement Program. Now the director of public utilities, he was still in the role of assistant public utilities director when he spearheaded the development of a policy that would reimburse developers for replacing aging
pipes, though he gives most of the credit to his hard working staff that did the heavy lifting to make the policy a reality.
During the economic downturn, in 2008, the development community started redeveloping existing downtown properties to build multi-family high rises. However, most of the infrastructure in downtown Raleigh was installed from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, at a time when a 20-story building with 400 units was inconceivable.
Explains Massengill: “Our challenge was how do we accommodate all this redevelopment and allow it to continue at a market-driven pace and avoid sanitary sewer overflows while having adequate fire protection in our water mains.”
To meet the increased demand in capacity, the City mandated that developers replace existing infrastructure with bigger pipes as a condition for proceeding with their plans. Needless to say, the developers were not pleased to field the entire price tag. Although they had not yet risen to the top of the priority list, the old pipes would eventually have had to be replaced. Had no development taken place, the City would have borne the full brunt of the costs.
However, it just so happened that, having just developed its asset management program, Raleigh Utilities had a good handle on the age of its water and wastewater system and the places where capacity issues were arising. “So we were able to do condition assessments and work with the development community to come up with a policy that allowed them to stay on their market-driven schedules and help us replace our oldest infrastructure at the same time,” says Massengill. “It was a win win.”
Thanks to the new program, the burden is now shared between the city and the developer, which receives a partial reimbursement from the city. “It also helps the existing customer base whose pipes needed to be replaced anyway,” says Massengill.
When he assumed the position of director last spring, he became responsible for a water and wastewater system consisting of 640 employees and serving more than half a million people, in a service area spanning over 200 square miles. It is the apex of a career that started in Raleigh more than thirty years ago when he completed a bachelors degree in civil engineering with a construction option from North Carolina State University.
After graduation, Massengill spent his first eight years with a small engineering firm in Johnston County, starting as a project inspector in the field before moving into the office to do engineering design and, eventually, project management. Then in 1991, he went to work with the State of North Carolina’s Department of Transportation (DOT) where he was responsible for creating water and sewer utility designs to address conflicts with roadway construction. “When the DOT would build a highway where there was existing infrastructure, the impacted public utility owner would want the relocation of water and wastewater lines to be included in the highway contract,” he explains.
Two years later, Massengill accepted a position with the State Revolving Fund at the State of North Carolina’s Division of Water Quality. Then in 2001, he left the State to work for a private engineering firm, doing the design of utilities associated with new residential subdivisions and commercial site plans.
By the time the City of Raleigh came calling, he had built a portfolio of experience that included everything from private consulting to state regulation to acting as a municipal utility owner. It was the chance to do more of the latter that drew him in. “When I first came to Raleigh, I was involved in planning large capital projects and seeing them through to completion,” recalls Massengill, noting that he started with the City as Construction Projects Administrator. “I get a lot of gratification out of designing and building projects that we will own and operate after they are completed. You get to realize where you did a good job and where you didn’t, and you learn from that very quickly.”
He points out that another way to learn is by networking with other professionals in the water and wastewater industry. One of the best networking opportunities, he adds, is at the NC AWWA-WEA Annual Conference. Massengill has been attending the conference since the 1990s when he joined the State. “It’s a great opportunity to share information,” he says, “to talk to somebody who is doing something you are thinking about doing or vice versa, and to learn what worked and what didn’t. There is nothing like building relationships. When you need something later, you can connect with a friendly face.”
When the conference is in Raleigh, because overnight expenses are not an issue, the City’s utility department can afford to send more staff and expose them to the experience. “What we are trying to do is develop our staff so they are ready to move up,” says Massengill, “The conferences are a big part of that.” He adds that the conferences also help keep operators current with certification, just as they help him, as an engineer, obtain his annual professional education credits.
Ongoing professional development and a wide breadth of experience, including several years as the assistant director of public utilities prepared Massengill well for his role as director. “I had really good exposure to how a utility ran from the top level,” he confirms, noting that, as assistant director, he was heavily involved in both decision-making and policy development. “It helped set me up for the next level.”
Additionally, in 2012, he was very involved in developing the public utilities’ first strategic plan, which was based on effective utility management principals. “We don’t put our strategic plan on the shelf to collect dust,” he says. “We have action items to move forward.
He notes that the utility has identified efficiencies and implemented business processes that have resulted in an annual $3.5 million in recurring savings. Some of the lean processes include using technology, such as putting computers in vehicles so employees in the field can avoid having to drive back to the office to print out a report and deliver it to the customer. Efficiencies realized through this process allowed the utility to retask staff to deferred maintenance and inspections of such assets as hydrants, valves, and sewer easements.
“We have some motivated people that really took our strategic plan seriously,” says Massengill. “It’s made a big difference in the morale and attitude of staff.”
Public Utilities has just completed an update of the strategic plan, a process undertaken every three years to keep the plan current. The focus of the updated plan continues to be on operational optimization, in other words, doing more with less. “That is the first thing customers and elected officials want to know about when you ask for a rate increase,” he notes. “Nobody likes a rate increase, including me, but it’s necessary.”
He adds that customers are ultimately the ones who bear the costs involved with every new environmental law or regulation. But they are the beneficiaries as well. Because the general population does not always make these connections, Raleigh Public Utilities has added a separate charge on water bills to clarify to what end payments are being applied. “A pretty significant accomplishment over the past few years, has been the development of an infrastructure charge,” explains Massengill. “We put a line item on every bill, for both water and sewer. That revenue goes directly into an account set aside to pay for capital projects to replace old pipes. That’s part of the full cost for service. If you’re not collecting it, you’re just kicking the can down the road for somebody’s grandchildren to pay for later on.”
Because replacing pipes can be very disruptive to the customer – after all some pipes are located in people’s back yard – Raleigh Public Utilities has also implemented a new capital communications plan. “What we found is that if folks know what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and why it’s important to their lives, they are a lot more tolerant,” says Massengill.
There is no need to convince the director as to why these improvements are important. As an avid inshore fisherman, he has a vested interest in ensuring the water and wastewater system is the best that it can be. “I fish in the receiving stream where we discharge,” confirms Massengill. Personal or professional, his goal is the same. He is committed to doing his best to protect the water quality in the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound, both for today’s residents, and for the generations to come.
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