Special Utility Laborer

Special Utility Worker

Department: Public Works

Supervised By: Public Works Director

Status: Full Time 7:00am – 3:00pm

Pay: $22.00 Starting Rate ($22.88 effective 7/1/2026)

Essential Job Functions:

An employee in this position may be called upon to do any or all of the following essential functions. These examples do not include all of the duties which the employee may be expected to perform. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily.

• Receives written work orders or verbal instructions from Director, and/or their designee.
• Drives truck and loads fallen tree limbs and roadside trash onto truck and delivers refuse to dumpsite.
• Repairs streets and sidewalks with cold patching materials using shovel, hand roller, and long handled tamp.
• Adheres to all safety protocols and departmental policies.
• Operates snow removal equipment to maintain streets, sidewalks, and driveways. Uses tractor, snow blower, and shovels.
• Provides ground maintenance, shovels snow, mows grass, trims, cuts wood, lays sod, rakes leaves, sands and salts streets as needed.
• Weeds, plants, sprays, and cultivates flowers and plants.
• Operates chipper to grind branches.
• Performs a variety of construction and repair tasks as part of work crew.
• Participates in the clean-up of work projects, filling ditches, laying sod, and removing and extra dirt materials.
• Operates trucks and other equipment involved in snow removal such as snowplows and tractors with sweeper attachment.
• Performs duties utilizing a variety of hand and power tools.
• May operate a front-end loader to load materials into trucks, plow snow and load snow into trucks.
• May assist promotional positions in a labor capacity.
• Reports on the jobs worked on and the equipment used.
• May operate backhoe, skid steer, or excavator to repair infrastructure such as water mains and sewers.
• Perform other tasks as assigned.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Minimum Qualifications

• Ability to legally work in the United States
• Minimum 18 years of age at date of application
• High school diploma or equivalent
• Valid Michigan Commercial Driver’s License (must obtain a Class B with Air Brakes Commercial Driver license within 45 days)

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• An ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagrammatic form; to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in or from standardized situations.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide all units of measure; to perform the four operations with like or common decimal fractions.
• Ability to read safety rules, instructions in the use and maintenance of shop tools and equipment, and methods and procedures.
• Ability to write reports with proper format, punctuation, spelling, and grammar, using all parts of speech.
• Ability to communicate with individuals with poise and confidence using correct English and well-modulated voice.
• Ability to use machines, tools, equipment, and work aids such as power saws, chisels, portable power tools, soldering iron, spray gun, staple gun, wrench sets, air compressor, clamps, clips, fixtures, manuals, patterns, rules, templates, stumper, chipper, dump trucks, lawnmower, tractor, car, pick-up, weed trimmer, chain saws, tree pruners, woodworking tools, spray tanks, salt spreader, etc.
• Ability to exert up to 100 lbs. of force occasionally, and/or up to 50 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 20 pounds of force constantly to move objects.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

• The physical demands and work environmental characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to travel to various locations within the City and work outside the office at field sites, including visiting construction and other works in progress.
• This may rarely require the employee to visit sites with treacherous terrain, requiring the employee to traverse uneven ground, climb up or crawl down to access the site.
• The employee is occasionally exposed to fumes, dust, chemicals or other hazardous materials, loud machinery and equipment, and other dangers associated with engineering projects and construction sites.
• The employee is occasionally exposed to adverse weather conditions and loud noise level in field situations. Proximity to moving, mechanical parts, traffic.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $22.88 per hour

Expected hours: 40.0 per week

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Opportunities for advancement
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Retirement plan
• Tools provided
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Application Question(s):

• How many years of general labor experience do you have?

Work Location: In person