Meet Our Team
Karen L. Gracey, P.E., Co-President
Karen has over 19 years of engineering experience with specialized expertise in water system design. She serves on the Board of Directors. She has completed over 35 hydraulic models and is certified in WaterGems and InfoWater software. In addition, she is expert in Tata & Howard’s innovative Capital Efficiency Plan™ (CEP) methodology and has completed CEPs for numerous municipalities and water systems. She holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont.
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Karen L. Gracey
Co-President
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Jenna W. Rzasa, P.E., Co-President
Jenna has over 20 years of engineering experience with specialized expertise in water system design. She serves on the Board of Directors. She also has concentrated experience in the development of new sources and maximization of existing sources, as well as in conducting water audits utilizing AWWA’s M36 methodology. She holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
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Jenna W. Rzasa
Co-President
Paul B. Howard, P.E., Co-Founder and Senior Vice President
Paul is the co-founder of Tata & Howard and has over 39 years of engineering experience with specialized expertise in water system designs. He is a member of Tata & Howard’s Board of Directors. Paul is a Practice Leader in Hydraulic Studies, and has completed over 20 water treatment designs and over 100 hydraulic models. Paul has served as President of the Massachusetts Water Works Association, and he holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
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Paul B. Howard
Co-Founder and Senior Vice President
Patrick S. O’Neale, P.E., Senior Vice President
Patrick has over 36 years of engineering experience in the design of water and wastewater infrastructure. He is a member of Tata & Howard’s Board of Directors and manages the firm’s Lakeville, MA office. He has specialized experience in water system design, permitting, and treatment. Patrick was the Project Manager for the 6.0 mgd regional ultrafiltration facility that treats water for Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, and Marion. He was also Project Manager for the 8.0 mgd surface water treatment plant in Falmouth, MA. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Southeastern Massachusetts University.
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Patrick S. O’Neale
Senior Vice President
Kenneth M. Fischer, CPA, CGMA, CEPA, Chief Finacial Officer/Treasurer
Ken has over 37 years of financial management experience in manufacturing, engineering, distribution, healthcare, and financial services industries. Ken is a member of Tata & Howard’s Board of Directors. Ken currently serves as Director of the Schepens Eye Research Institute (affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA), Trustee of Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA), and Trustee and Chair of Finance Committee, Executive Service Corps New England (ESCNE), Boston, MA. He holds an MS in Taxation from Bentley, an MBA from Babson, and a BA in Economics from Providence College, as well as advanced certifications from Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, and Boston University.
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Kenneth M. Fischer
Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer
Steven J. Landry, P.E., Vice President and Director of Wastewater
Steve has over 37 years of targeted water and wastewater engineering consulting experience and leads the firm’s wastewater group. His professional experience includes a wide range of water resource engineering projects including planning, design, permitting, construction administration, and funding assistance. He has a strong background in water projects including water supply, storage, and treatment; distribution and piping; construction management/inspection; dam inspections/restoration; water quality and pilot studies; pump station design; and wellhead/watershed security. His experience in wastewater projects includes wastewater collection and treatment, construction management, CSO projects, BNR and advanced treatment systems, facility planning, hydraulic modeling, infiltration/inflow and SSES studies, odor control, pumping stations, and solids handling and disposal. In addition to his extensive consulting experience, Steve has served on the Board of Directors of the National Society of Professional Engineers and as President of the Rhode Island Society of Professional Engineers. He has also served as Chair of New England Water Environment Association’s CSO and Wet Weather Issues Committee. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering and a Master of Engineering degree in Water Resources from Clarkson University.
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Steven J. Landry
Vice President and Director of Wastewater
Rhonda E. Harris, P.E., WEF Fellow, Vice President and Global Director of Asset Management
Rhonda has over 41 years of experience in managing and administering a variety of facilities and programs in the water environment industry. She has been actively involved on an international level in addressing issues of water and sanitation through leadership and participation in the top water professional organizations in the world. As a Past President of WEF, an elected member of The International Water Academy (TIWA), an Honorary Member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), a member of the Executive Committees of LakeNet and The Inter-American Water Resource Network (IWRN), and participant in a number of additional non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the water sector, she has worked for change and improvement of the global water environment for many years. She holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, and an MBA in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University.
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Rhonda E. Harris
Vice President and Global Director of Asset Management
James J. Courchaine, Vice President and National Director of Business Practices
Jim has over 46 years of experience in every facet of water and wastewater management, operations, and maintenance. He assisted with the development of the first Capacity, Management, Operations, and Maintenance (CMOM) guidelines as well as authored the Wastewater Collection System Operator Certification Studybook. Jim developed an innovative assessment matrix and structural framework for utility operations evaluation and improvement and is recognized as a subject matter expert at the national level. He is also honoree and first recipient of NEWEA’s James J. Courchaine Collection Systems Award.
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James J. Courchaine
Vice President and National Director of Business Practices
Gary A. Leach, P.E., Vice President,
Gary has over 40 years of engineering experience with specialized expertise in water and wastewater system evaluations, design, and construction, and he manages the firm’s St. Johnsbury, VT office. He has completed over 40 water and wastewater system evaluations and has also been responsible for the design and construction of over 20 water and wastewater treatment facilities and 20 storage tanks. He has a history of obtaining a majority of the funding for these projects in the form of grants. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont.
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Gary A. Leach
Vice President
Salvatore Longo, P.E., Vice President
Sal has over 39 years of concentrated water engineering experience with targeted expertise in dam engineering. Sal prepares hydraulic/hydrologic reports and computer models, dam breach analysis, Phase I and Phase II Dam Inspection Reports, emergency operations plans for dams, comprehensive water and sewerage planning studies, pumping station design reports, and flood hazard studies, and he works extensively with water supply and distribution studies. He is also a certified diver and has performed underwater inspections of dams and intake structures. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Connecticut.
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Salvatore Longo
Vice President
Stephen K. Rupar, P.E., Vice President
Steve has over 30 years of water utility engineering experience with specialized expertise in capital improvement program management, capital efficiency improvement, water resource planning, and water loss control. He manages the firm’s Waterbury, CT office. Steve is an active member of the AWWA Water Loss Control Committee and served on the sub-committee that drafted the new edition of AWWA M36, “Water Audits and Loss Control Programs”. He also served as Chair for the Connecticut Section of the AWWA in 2015 and 2017. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Connecticut.
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Stephen K. Rupar
Vice President
Ronald S. Ponte, P.E., Vice President
Ron has over 39 years engineering experience with specialized expertise in water treatment, water system design, and SCADA systems. He is a Practice Leader for Mechanical Designs, and has designed over 25 water treatment facilities. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University.
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Ronald S. Ponte
Vice President
Randall L. Pellatz, P.E., Associate
Randy has over 46 years of engineering experience and is an Arizona Grade 4 Water and Wastewater Treatment Operator. Manager of our Flagstaff, Arizona office, he has specific expertise with water and wastewater systems as well as significant experience in construction. He has experience in a wide range of municipal and private operations with a proven record of managing work teams, analyzing problems, developing and simplifying procedures, working with limited budgets, and finding innovative solutions. He received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Nebraska.
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Randall L. Pellatz
Associate
Paul E. Cote, P.E., Associate
Paul has over 41 years of engineering experience with specialized expertise in water system design. Paul manages our Portland, ME office and has been involved with the design and construction of over 20 water treatment facilities. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Maine and an MS in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University.
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Paul E. Cote
Associate
Ryan Neyland, P.E., Associate
Ryan has over 12 years of concentrated water treatment experience including all phases of planning, design, and construction services, as well as pump station rehabilitation and SCADA experience. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
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Ryan P. Neyland
Associate
William S. Andres, P.E./L.S., Associate
Bill has over 41 years of concentrated water engineering experience with targeted expertise in dam engineering. He is also a licensed Land Surveyor. He has provided engineering surveys, project design, and resident engineering for over 20 miles of water mains, ten water storage tanks, five pumping stations and roadway bridges, and several miles of sanitary sewers. Mr. Andres designed more than 25 dam rehabilitation projects and has completed structural analyses for dam stability as well as numerous dam inspections. His survey work has included property and topography maps, construction stakeouts, and surveys for FEMA Flood Insurance Studies. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Connecticut.
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William S. Andres
Associate
Jon W. Gregory, P.E., Associate
Jon has over 19 years of engineering experience with specific expertise in the design, permitting, and construction of water mains, water storage facilities, and pumping stations. He also has targeted expertise in stormwater engineering and MS4 compliance. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
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Jon W. Gregory
Associate
Justine M. Carroll, P.E., Associate
Justine has over 11 years of engineering experience with specialized expertise in water system modeling, and serves as Team Leader for the Hydraulics Group. She is certified in WaterGEMS and H2ONet modeling software and holds training certifications in ESRI – ArcGIS Desktop II and III. She holds a BS in Environmental Engineering and an MS in Environmental and Water Resource Engineering from Tufts University.
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Justine M. Carroll
Associate
Jerald A. Postema, Client Service Specialist
Jerry has over 44 years of concentrated water and wastewater operations and management experience and leads the firm’s business development efforts in the southwest. His previous experience includes serving as Public Works Director for the City of Tualatin, Oregon; Environmental Services Manager for the City of Goodyear, Arizona; Public Works Director for the City of Grandville, Michigan; and Administrative Services Officer for the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He holds licenses in the State of Arizona for Water Distribution Systems, Classification 4; Water Treatment Systems, Classification 4; Wastewater Collections, Classification 2; and Wastewater Treatment, Classification 2.
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Jerald A. Postema
Client Service Specialist
B. Dexter Lefavour, Senior Project Manager
Dexter has almost 40 years of experience in consulting engineering and his depth of experience has given him the skills required to complete complex civil engineering projects. His career has focused on municipal and land development projects in the areas of wastewater treatment, water supply, water resources, solid waste management and land development. Dexter holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Tufts University, Professional Engineer licenses in Vermont and New Hampshire and also holds his OSHA 40 hour Hazardous Site Worker Certification.
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B. Dexter Lefavour
Senior Project Manager
David J. Lombardo, P.E., Project Manager
Dave has over 22 years of concentrated water engineering experience with targeted expertise in design and modeling. He has developed various water distribution system models using WaterCad and storm drainage models using StormCad, and has designed a broad range of projects including water mains and pump stations. He has also worked extensively as a Resident Project Representative for various types of projects including water and sewer pumping stations, water mains and storage tanks, sanitary sewer and force mains, and recreational facilities. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Roger Williams University.
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David J. Lombardo
Project Manager
David J. Ceppetelli, Project Manager
Dave has over 22 years of water and wastewater project management experience. He has managed numerous multi-million dollar construction projects including wastewater treatment plant upgrades, new water pump stations, and odor control systems. In addition, Dave is HAZWOPER and OSHA certified, a licensed Construction Supervisor, and holds Water Treatment Plant Operators licenses for both treatment and distribution. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
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David J. Ceppetelli
Project Manager
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Co-Founder Donald J. Tata (1954-2017)
