Groundskeeper

City of Destin; Destin (FL); On-site; USD 33,000 - 51,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Destin is seeking a Grounds Maintenance worker to oversee daily grounds operations across city parks and facilities. Duties include turf management, irrigation, fertilization, field preparation, and pest/weed control with emphasis on safety, playability, and appearance.

You will assist with chemical application programs, keep records, and coordinate with facility supervisors to support field schedules and community events while adhering to environmental and legal requirements.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma and one year of work experience involving turf and ornamental maintenance.

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily grounds operations including turf management, irrigation, fertilization, field preparation, pest and weed control and seasonal maintenance.
• Assist with generating and executing the chemical application program for city grounds per Florida law.
• Maintain required chemical application records and ensure compliance with safety policies and standards.
• Coordinate planned chemical applications with facility supervisors and meet public notification standards.
• Assist with landscaping, irrigation design and site plans, and perform minor repairs and maintenance as needed.

Skills

Grounds maintenance

Irrigation

Chemical application

Budget awareness

Teamwork

Education

High School Diploma

Job description

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Department: Parks & Recreation

FLSA Status: Non-Exempt

Grade: 105

SUMMARY : Oversee daily grounds operations, including turf management, irrigation, fertilization, field preparation, pest and weed control, and seasonal maintenance. Assists with generating and executing the chemical application program for all city-owned grounds, including athletic fields, facilities, and parks, with chemicals to control weeds and promote healthy turf. Ensures athletic fields and public grounds meet established standards for safety, playability, and appearance. Works closely with city departments and the public to support field schedules, special events, and community needs while maintaining efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible grounds operations. Maintains all required federal, state, and local chemical application records. Stores, mixes, applies, and disposes of chemicals as required by Florida Law.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: The following are not to be construed as an exclusive or all-inclusive listing of skills and abilities required to perform the job. Management may delegate other responsibilities as required.

• Demonstrates commitment to Team Destin and our mission, vision, values, and goals and represents the city in a professional, dignified manner at all times, both in actions and appearance.
• Contributes to the development and accomplishment of home team work-plans.
• Demonstrates competent knowledge of all applicable policies, codes, ordinances, regulations and statutes.
• Demonstrates competent knowledge of all divisional Key Functions and their associated processes.
  • Participates in Home-Team and assigned QIT's/Committees.
  • Contributes to the development and accomplishment of home team quality.
  • Performs accurate documentation of chemical applications is essential.
  • Assists with turf care program for both sports turf, general use turf and ornamentals utilizing the greenest methodology available (to include chemical product selection, scheduling of applications and amounts to be applied).
  • Implements turf/ornamental care in accordance with applicable laws and the approved turf/ornamental care program, inclusive of sod, trees, bushes, plants, etc.
  • Assists the Parks Maintenance Supervisor in order to manage related budget expenditures and recommendations.
  • Provides input during department budget preparation to ensure turf care program operates effectively with adequate equipment, chemicals and labor requirements.
  • Coordinates planned chemical applications with the respective facility supervisors at least one week in advance.
  • Meets all required public notification standards when applying chemicals.
  • Operates various mechanized and manual sprayers and spreaders.
  • Calibrates, cleans, and maintains sprayer; ensures proper maintenance of equipment.
  • Maintains current knowledge of research, trends, and developments in chemical application, state law and licensing qualifications.
  • Responds to inquiries concerning regulations and policies on the use of restricted chemicals.
  • Assists with landscaping and irrigation design and site plans.
  • Drives truck and controls movement of lifting apparatus.
  • Positions forks, boom, lifting buckets, or other lifting device under, over, or around loaded pallets, skids, boxes, products, or materials or hook-up truck trailer hitches to trailer, and transports load to designated area.
  • Checks all invoices for city compliance and labels each invoice with the facility location(s) associated with the expenditure.
  • Assists with irrigation programming and repair to ensure adequate watering of turf and ornamentals.
  • Assists with minor repairs on equipment, including lubricating trucks, recharging batteries, filling fuel tanks, replacing liquefied gas, and changing oil.
  • Assist in all aspects of grounds maintenance including mowing, infield sk in maintenance, mound/plate/bullpen, pre/post-game preparation and repair.
  • Prunes shrubs and trees to include removal if necessary to shape and improve growth or remove damaged leaves, branches, or twigs.
  • Rakes and bags leaves, cleans grounds and removes litter and debris.
  • Shovels sand/dirt from walks and driveways and makes minor concrete and improvements to walks/curbs and asphalt repairs and improvements on roadways.
  • Plants grass, flowers, trees and shrubs and waters plants and lawns.
  • Paints fences, outbuildings, bathrooms, and other city-owned property/buildings (interior and exterior).
  • Repairs fences, gates, walls, floors and roofs.
  • Performs minor carpentry and masonry projects and repair to include boat ramps and docks.
  • Cleans out ditches, culverts and removes sand from boat launching areas to provide adequate depth.
  • Cleans facilities at parks, recreation sites and all city owned/leased facilities.
  • Sharpens tools such as weed cutters, edging tools, and shears.
  • Makes minor repairs on equipment such as lawn mower, spreader, and miscellaneous lawn care tools/equipment.
  • Inspects and makes minor repairs/adjustments to heating and cooling systems; plumbing and electrical systems and appliances; and sprinkler systems.
  • Recommends measures to improve operations and conditions of machines and equipment.
  • Informs Field Crew Supervisor of tools, equipment and supplies required for maintenance operations.
  • Performs other related duties as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: Supervision of other city employees is not required of this position.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience: High School Diploma and one (1) year of work experience involving turf and ornamental maintenance.

Licenses or Certifications:

Valid Florida driver's license. Florida Fertilizer license is required; Florida Lawn and Ornamental license desired; or must be able to obtain the license within the probationary period (180 days).

Special Requirements:

None.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge of southeastern turf grasses, ornamentals, weeds, insects and diseases.
• Knowledge of irrigation systems, water drainage systems, building construction and excavation.
• Ability to compare and/or judge the readily observable functional, technical, structural, compositional or identifiable characteristics (whether similar to or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people or things.
• Ability to communicate with people to convey or exchange professional information.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedural manuals.
• Ability to produce reports with proper format, punctuation, spelling and grammar, using all parts of speech.
• Ability to learn and understand subject matter principles and techniques.
• Ability to make independent judgments in absence of supervision within the scope of respective job duties and tasks.
• Ability to acquire and expound on knowledge of topics related to primary occupation.
• Ability to utilize mathematical formulas; add and subtract, multiply and divide totals; determine percentages; and determine time and weight and interpret same as may be appropriate.
• Ability to inspect items for proper length, width and shape.
• Ability to differentiate colors and shades of color.
• Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
• Ability to operate a variety of heavy equipment such as a dump truck, back hoe, front-end loader, tractor, etc, to replace and /or supplement when necessary to accomplish a project.
• Ability to work with crew members in order to complete projects timely and efficiently.
• Ability to interact with people (staff, supervisors, general public and elected officials) beyond giving and receiving instructions to include tactfully mediating conflicts and achieving positive results.
• Ability to perform under maximum stress when confronted with short deadlines, heavy workloads, conflicting interests and high customer demand.

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. While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. The employee frequently is required to sit and taste and smell. The employee is required to stand; to walk; to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 100 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT:

• Continuing Education (seminars, job-related coursework at post-secondary institutions, continuing education credits/CEU’s)
• Training (Either as participant or trainer)
• Involvement in relevant professional or technical associations
• Serving on city committees
• Volunteering to take responsibility for special projects, cross-training

The City has the right to revise this description at any time. This

description does not represent in any way a contract of employment.