City of Baldwin City, Kansas

Job Description

Department: Public Works

Reports To: Director of Public Works

FLSA Status: Non-exempt (eligible for overtime pay)

Pay Depends on Qualifications

‍

POSITION SUMMARY

Under the supervision of the Director of Public Works, the Administrative Assistant - Public Works is a nonexempt position under FLSA. This position performs a variety of routine customer reception, clerical, administrative and financial work in support of Public Works, Codes Administration, Planning, and Water, Wastewater, and Electric utilities. This employee should possess excellent clerical, organizational, communication, and public relations skills.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Communicates with customers, vendors, developers, and contractors either by telephone or in person to provide needed information;
• Greets visitors and directs them to appropriate department with courtesy and tact in a positive, professional manner;
• Ensures that information regarding customer requests or complaints is provided accurately and efficiently and forwarded to the appropriate department;
• Answers all incoming phone calls promptly; determines nature of incoming call and directs caller to appropriate department or individual; if employee is unavailable, emails message or forwards call to voicemail;
• Receives, opens, date-stamps and distributes incoming mail daily. Processes outgoing mail and takes to post office as needed;
• Assists public works, codes administration, and utility department staff with projects, correspondence, spreadsheets, record keeping and other tasks as needed;
• Processes paperwork and maintains records for building permits and applications;
• Processes vendor invoices, produces department purchase orders, and forwards to City Hall for processing;
• Maintains all building and codes department forms and ensures changes are made as needed;
• Composes, types, and edits correspondence as needed; accuracy and professional appearance is a must on all outgoing correspondence, mail, reports, and other documents;
• Prepares Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals packets for distribution;
• Responsible for all worker's compensation correspondence;
• Maintains postage meter reports and ensures postage is available;
• Orders and maintains office supplies as needed for department;
• Attends meetings of the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals, records minutes and forwards approved minutes to the City Clerk;
• Follows department policies and procedures;
• Opens the Public Works office daily at 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday;
• Communicates with departments, vendors, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, and address questions;
• Completes research of payments and invoices to determine appropriateness;
• Creates service orders for occupants of utility addresses;
• Files contracts, deeds, and easements;
• Gathers information for legal property owners with 200 feet and 1,000 feet within the zoning text amendment area, or conditional use or variance request area;
• Issues public notification of all official activities or meetings;
• Maintains data records and prepares reports for the state, reimbursement and activities;
• Maintains tags, titles and insurance for all City vehicles;
• Maintains worker's compensation and accident reports;
• Manages the drug testing procedures for new hires, random testing, incidents and accidents;
• Performs budgeting duties, such as assisting in budget preparation, expenditure review, or budget administration;
• Prepares billing for utility, including verification of meter readings, service orders, utility adjustments, water leak notifications, average monthly payment plans, and monthly utility reports, and prepares refund deposits;
• Publishes legal notices for the Board of Zoning Appeals and Planning Commission;
• Uploads and downloads data from meter reading handhelds, monitoring of meter reading dates, and input of new meter tickets;
• Manages weed notices during the spring and summer season, legal notices and follow up;
• Reviews requests for issuing building permits;
• Sorts and files correspondence, and performs miscellaneous clerical duties such as answering correspondence and writing reports;
• Takes inventory of supplies and reports needs and shortages;
• Determines customer addresses by inquiring at post offices, telephone companies, credit agencies or through the questioning of neighbors;
• Tracks expenditures related to City projects;
• Types, copies, distributes and files correspondence, memos, reports and records;
• Uses software to enter and produce correspondence, reports, tables, and financial schedules;
• Works with other departments to ensure efficient and effective service delivery;

MARGINAL FUNCTIONS

• Assists other departments as needed;
• Performs other duties as necessary or assigned.

CERTIFICATIONS, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

• Bondable.
• Notary public.
• Valid driver's license.
• Must be insurable by City's insurance carrier.
• Must be insurable by the City’s insurance carrier.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Required Experience: One year to two years related experience and/or training. Employee is expected to have acquired the necessary information and skills to perform the job reasonably well within six to twelve months of employment.

Minimum Required Education: High School Diploma or GED required.

POSITION PREFERENCES

Preferred Experience: Two to three years related experience and/or training.

Preferred Education: Associate's degree from a college or technical school; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Training in general office practices such as bookkeeping, accounting, computers, or filing.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to follow department policies and procedures, concentrate on tasks in the presence of distractions, prepare reports, type with speed and accuracy, and interpret written instructions and other documents.
• Ability to operate office equipment such as office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent, and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
• Ability to operate computers and software necessary to complete assignments, which may include word processing, spreadsheets and databases
• Ability to work and get along with others.
• Ability to carry out duties reliably and predictably.
• Knowledge of office procedures, computers, bookkeeping, and mathematics.
• Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer service. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Skill in organizational, public relations, and oral and written communication.
• Skill in error free inputting of numbers and data.
• Skill in proofing own documents.

Problem Solving: This position requires limited independent problem-solving. This employee encounters problems with citizen concerns and complaints, and scheduling priorities.

Decision Making: This position requires limited independent decision-making. The employee makes decisions about prioritizing daily work assignments, resolving citizen concerns and complaints, and efficiently performing daily duties.

Supervision: This position is under the direct supervision of the Director of Public Works. This employee does not exercise any supervisory responsibilities over subordinate personnel.

Financial Accountability: This employee is responsible for department resources and equipment. This employee does not participate in the annual budget process.

Personal Relations: Daily contact with the general public, co-workers, and supervisory personnel is expected, as well as frequent contact with the organization's chief administrator, appointed committees, and governing body.

Working Conditions: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

No adverse working conditions exist with this position. Working in an office setting with a computer and telephone is the primary aspect of this position.

Physical Requirements: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical activity associated with working in an office setting is required to perform the daily duties of this position. The ability to express or exchange ideas by means of communication is important in this position. This employee must be able to convey and receive detailed or important instructions from other workers and the general public.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to sit; use hands to finger, eye and hand coordination, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk and stoop, kneel, and crouch. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

Duties listed are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work performed. Omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the position. This job description does not constitute an employment agreement and is subject to change as the City’s needs and requirements of the job change. The State of Kansas and City of Baldwin City are at-will employment jurisdictions. The City is an equal opportunity employer.

Applicants/employees with a disability as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act as Amended as Amended may request accommodation to perform the position’s functions. Requests should be directed to the City Administrator.