My last article highlighted the wastewater treatment plant and the work many take for granted. That being said, it is only fitting we talk about the other side of the wastewater plant. None other than the utility billing. Who is the person that runs the department and is most likely the one who answers those complicated questions?  You know, the one we complain to when we need to understand winter averaging. This is none other than Mrs. Melanie Nievar.

Melanie has worked for the city for almost 15 years. She started in 2010 driving a bus, and quickly moved up to Accounts Receivable in the finance department in 2011. In 2012 the city took on utility billing, and Melanie found her niche so to speak and built utility billing from the ground up. I sat down with Melanie and discussed her position for a bit and this is what we learned.

I asked Melanie what she finds most rewarding in her position. I was not surprised to hear that Melanie loves problem solving. Melanie talked about how she can see trends with peoples accounts and she likes to look into why things seem normal and then all of a sudden, she sees a spike. What caused that spike?  This is where her investigative skills kick in. I honestly enjoy coming to her when someone calls me about their water billing. She will go into the account and within a few minutes she will say, “Well I can see there is an issue with their water meter because I see this,” or “This has to do with winter averaging because they were watering their lawn in October during the dry spell.”  It amazes me how much information she can come up with simply looking at the numbers and history of an account. It is something to see for sure. Just today as I wrote this article she noticed an anomaly with 15 accounts and personally reached out to the residents to either let them know there was a leak or some other potential issue. 

We then discussed the city and what Melanie felt was the best thing about working for the City. Melanie thought on this one, folks, which concerned me for a moment, but then she said honestly the relationships developed and the fact it doesn’t matter what your position is you are heard. Melanie felt that she had input on matters of how to make her job better and to provide better service to the community. It wasn’t always this way. Some may dispute this, but Melanie truly works with people on how to understand their billing, or whom to contact if she detects an issue. I personally had a billing issue a couple of years ago, and working her magic Melanie logged into my account and noticed that my meter readings were estimates and low and behold I contacted the water company and the meter was not working correctly. They came out and fixed it and the problem was resolved. So, Melanie does have some skills.

We next talked about what her “superpower” is. I really did not have to ask that question. I have walked by her office many times and have heard some very upset people on her line. I watch her on occasion remain composed only to calm the person and help them understand how the billing works. So, patience is one that I identified. Melanie has an enormous amount of patience. Let’s all be honest; we know some people when they call are just rude and sometimes not so pleasant to work with. Melanie remains composed and continues to provide the best service she can. Problem solver is the other she came up with, and I would agree with this. Melanie likes the challenge of working with people to fix whatever the issue is they face. Of course, she can’t fix everything, but she will give it her best.

I then asked Melanie what was her message to the community. She pondered on this for a moment and then stated, “We are not the enemy. We are here to help.”  Many are already stressed out when they call on their issue, so she takes many things with a grain of salt in essence allowing them to vent. In the end Melanie’s message is that she is happy to help and she does not want the customer to be confused. Her goal is for the individual to walk away feeling confident and competent with the answers they were provided.

So, next time someone calls with questions about their winter averaging this is likely who you will be talking to.