LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Selectmen rejected a proposal from Town Manager Paul Sieloff to hire a neighborhood woman to clean the police station.

 

Sieloff on Dec. 15 told the board that the Health Department found the station in need of significant cleaning. Sieloff then proposed hiring someone to clean up a few hours a week and be paid out of the Police Department's budget.

 

"We really do want our workplaces to be as clean as possible. I don't think you can compare the skills she has at keeping the place clean to that of a uniformed patrol officer," Sieloff said. "We do have a resource available who will do a really great job and eliminate issues of dust, grime, and mold."

 

Sieloff said the department has been cleaned sparingly by department staff and instead of requiring the uniformed officers to improve their cleaning routine, it would be better to hire someone from outside. That person would do the work at the same time the chief or officers are doing paperwork.

 

The Selectmen, however, asked why the officers can't do the cleaning themselves.

 

"I don't understand why the Police Department has to have somebody doing that," Selectman Robert Ericson said.

 

Ericson said he has to clean up his own work spaces at his home and other departments are asked to keep their own workspaces clean. 

 

"Why wouldn't the Police Department clean up their own building?" Ericson said. "When I was in the military we cleaned up our own spaces. ... We are all adults here, you can't run a freaking vacuum?"

 

The board took no action on the 15th and then outright rejected the proposal at its subsequent meeting on Dec. 21. Chairman John Goerlach worried that the move would lead to other departments asking for cleaning help while Selectman Henry "Hank" Sayers said an officer would still have to be present, so the town would be paying twice for the time.

 

Goerlach suggested giving a part-time officer extra hours to do the cleaning. 

 

"Let [the chief] have an officer come in for two extra hours," Goerlach said.

 

Ultimately, Sieloff's proposal to outsource the cleaning did not receive a motion and therefore won't move forward. 

 

"I am very disappointed. I offered a solution that was reasonable and reasonably priced," Sieloff said.