The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) enriches the environment and protects public health for all New Yorkers by providing 1.1 billion gallons of high quality drinking water, managing wastewater and stormwater, and reducing air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution. DEP is the largest combined municipal water and wastewater utility in the country, with nearly 6,000 employees. DEP's water supply system is comprised of 19 reservoirs and 3 controlled lakes throughout the system’s 2,000 square mile watershed that extends 125 miles north and west of the City.

The Bureau of Water Supply seeks to hire a City Planner II for a position with the Land Acquisition Program, Watershed Lands and Community Planning Division within in the Watershed Protection Programs Directorate, located in Arkville, New York. The Land Acquisition Program (LAP), within DEP’s Bureau of Water Supply (BWS), Division of Watershed Lands & Community Planning (WLCP), is responsible for acquiring real property interests for the City of New York in the City’s upstate water supply watershed for the purpose of protecting water quality. The LAP oversees its own acquisitions, which include fee simple and conservation easements, as well as the acquisition of land through partnership programs. This position will be involved in selecting eligible watershed properties for potential acquisitions, working directly with landowners, realtors, attorneys, and town officials during the appraisal and contract process, and coordinating closely with other DEP staff during the contract and closing process. The position does not have to meet sales quotas and does not work on commission. All properties are acquired through purchase contracts with willing sellers. In addition, the position may also involve contract administration related to real property services or partner programs including the review of contract deliverables and invoices for completeness and accuracy.

Under direction, of the LAP Acquisitions Team Supervisor, the City Planner II will serve as Acquisition Project Manager/Land Acquisition Specialist and will focus on engaging with interested owners of eligible watershed lands and using best efforts, subject to City policies, to reach agreement on a purchase contract. Projects are likely to include City-funded flood buy-out projects approved by local communities, with the dual goal of protecting water quality and improving community resiliency. The position will perform several site visits each month, negotiate land configurations with interested sellers, research a wide range of landscape and deed issues relating to potential projects, discuss these matters before a diverse working group of DEP staff, order real property appraisals from independent consultants and review said appraisal reports for accuracy, negotiate purchase contracts with sellers and their attorneys, and manage certain steps within the closing process such as seller obligations to meet contractual requirements. Specific duties include:

- Working with sellers, attorneys, and or agents to discuss real property interests including fee simple and conservation easements. Routine responsibilities are to inspect the proposed properties, negotiate the configuration of the parcels or easements proposed to be acquired, order and review appraisals of the properties, and make purchase offers using standard model documents.

- Serving as the land acquisition project manager on City-funded flood buy-out projects, coordinating with community assessment leads and others as needed.

- Coordinating with other LAP staff to ensure real estate projects meet all programmatic and policy requirements during the acquisition process.

- Attending regularly scheduled LAP real estate meetings to discuss and review proposed real estate acquisition projects with staff from DEP and its partner acquisition programs.

- Working with LAP staff and attorneys to draft and complete real property purchase contracts based on an approved model document within a few weeks of an accepted offer.

- Updating project information in DEP’s internal Watershed Lands Information System (WaLIS) in a timely fashion, with workflow tasks and processes followed in accordance with LAP policies and SOPs, ensures that journal notes, documents, and photos & maps are added to WaLIS as appropriate for each project in a timely manner.

- Performing tasks related to LAP’s requirements under the City’s Filtration Avoidance Determination (FAD).

- Assisting with Requests for Proposals for new vendor contracts, vendor procurements and contracts, and processing vendor invoices.

- Ordering real estate services from vendors and reviewing program and contract deliverables for completeness and accuracy.


(This is a brief description of what you might do in this position and does not include all the duties of this position.)


Preferred Skills:

- Driver’s license valid in the State of New York

- Ability to travel to meetings, work facilities, and field locations, utilizing a New York City vehicle

- Knowledge and proficient use of Microsoft Office products such as Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint

- Knowledge and proficient use of Adobe

- Ability to learn and use WaLIS database program

- Ability to learn and use ARCGIS or similar geospatial databases

- Certified General Real Estate Appraiser with real estate and field work experience strongly preferred

- Experience with real estate transactions and reviewing appraisals and/or real estate agent experience is required

-Experience working with others and working on interdisciplinary teams

- Ability to work in a complex and challenging bureaucratic work environment

- Extensive experience understanding and interpreting maps, deeds and surveys

- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills but understands when to engage a supervisor

- Attention to detail and strong organizational skills

- Sound judgment in avoiding dangerous situations

- Ability to function independently and within a team environment

- Ability to work well with others

- Ability to communicate across diverse staff and landowners

- Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously

- Ability to work with landowners, attorneys, municipal leaders, co-workers, surveyors, contractors, clerks, and others to advance DEP and LAP mission

- Excellent communication skills in writing and speaking


Hours/Shift:

35 Hours per week

May be required to work shifts including nights, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.


Work Location:

669 County Road 38
Arkville, NY 12406

Arkville is a hamlet in the Town of Middletown, Delaware County, New York approximately 145 miles northwest of New York City.

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and two years of satisfactory full-time experience in city planning; or

2. A satisfactory combination of education and/or experience that is equivalent to “1"" above. Graduate
education in city planning, urban planning, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, transportation engineering, public administration, economic development or related fields may be substituted for experience on the basis of 30 graduate semester credits from an accredited college for one year of experience. However, all candidates must have a baccalaureate degree.

Special Qualification Requirements

Assignment Level III
To be eligible for placement in Assignment Level III, individuals must have, after meeting the minimum requirements, one additional year of professional experience as described in "2" above.

Assignment Level IV
To be eligible for placement in Assignment Level IV, individuals must have, after meeting the minimum requirements, two additional years of professional experience as described in "2" above.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.