ELY – City officials here are getting creative in finding ways to fill at least one of the many open positions in the city’s public works department by looking to hire an equipment operator trainee.
On Tuesday, the city council’s employee relations committee, on the recommendation of the clerk-treasurer, approved drafting a letter of understanding with union representatives and working on an appropriate job description for the new type of worker, as more and more positions go unfilled because of a continuing lack of qualified applicants, or any applicants at all, for various open positions on the city payroll.
The equipment operator position is just one of many current and upcoming employment vacancies for the city, according to Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski, who has been working with the city council committee to update and revise a slew of job descriptions as longtime workers parade toward the retirement door by the end of the year.
A veteran wastewater plant operator, longtime electric lineman foreman, and the Ely Utilities Commission’s experienced billing clerk are all retiring, Langowski said.
“These are all very difficult shoes to fill,” he said.
Council members agreed to send letters of appreciation to the outgoing employees.
“These people are all greatly appreciated,” Langowski said.
For the open equipment operator position, Langowski said two recent job postings resulted in just one applicant.
“The state and county are having these same (hiring) issues,” said Mayor Roger Skraba. “And if you are in the private sector, you are all having similar issues trying to find people with a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License), or anybody to apply.”
Council member Paul Kess stressed the importance of building a city workforce from within.
“Having these trainee positions will put people in the pipeline with a chance to advance,” he said.
Langowski said updating the job positions makes sense.
“Looking at all the positions to fill, we have room in our categories where we didn’t have an equipment operator trainee but we had an electrical worker trainee, and now we can slide (a position) into that category,” he said.
He explained that the Equipment Operator I position, the ground floor position in public works department, requires one year of experience, and the Equipment Operator II position requires three years of experience.
“With a trainee, what we would do is require them to get their commercial driver’s license within six months,” he said. “They would be a trainee until they get their CDL, and then work the rest of the year to move up to the Equipment Operator I position.”
All of the other requirements remain for the hybrid position, including a pre-employment physical and drug testing.
“And to get the CDL, you need to have access to the equipment to get the rating,” Langowski added. “That is a big barrier for many people, unless they know a contractor or know someone with that kind of equipment. Obviously, with the city, that equipment is here and all ready to go if we can find the right candidate.”
There are currently two open equipment operator positions for the city of Ely. Staring pay is $24 per hour.
“We plan on posting a third position next mid-summer,” Langowski said. “Technically we have those three open positions in public works. We have three retirees. Just one of those positions (the utilities billing clerk) is filled so far. It has been a little stressful. The (job) postings are not getting applicants, so we’re going to try something a little different here, and hope we are successful.”
The city’s public works department normally operates with a staff of nine, and now is working with a staff of six employees.
“The public works foreman is pulling in staff from other departments to help clear the streets and sidewalks from the latest snowfall,” Langowski said. “We have staff to get the job done, it just may take a little longer. And with COVID, we’re telling everyone that if they feel sick to stay home, we don’t want to lose the whole department. The crew did a great job earlier this week with the first big snowfall.”
City council members will have the union memo of understanding agreement to consider at their Dec. 21 meeting, and then the new trainee position will be posted after approval.