Councilors Debate Full-Time Custodian For Montville Public Safety Building

The question of whether to assign a full-time custodian to Montville’s new Public Safety Building brought mixed responses at the Town Council on Monday.

Councilors decided to keep the item before the Council while awaiting a list of maintenance priorities in the building. The hiatus will also allow councilors to assess how well a “team cleaning” concept can maintain the Public Safety Building and other municipal structures.

Last month, Public Safety Building Committee chairman Jack Platt recommended a full-time custodian as well as some specialized contracts to ensure the upkeep of the building. The sentiment was echoed Monday by Lt. Leonard Bunnell of the Montville Police Department as well as Tom McNally, vice-chair of the Public Safety Committee.

“I think it’s a no-brainer at this point,” said McNally. “We built a really nice, top-notch building and it’s time to maintain it.”

Bunnell said some maintenance issues have already come up at the building, including stains and a lack of cleaning.

“We have to spend time in the building in order to do it right,” he said.

Councilor Dana McFee recommended that the Council pass the measure. He said there are sufficient funds in the municipal budget to finance the position and that it is necessary to uphold the investment in the Public Safety Building.

“We spent $6.5 million and we’re not putting in enough time maintaining the facility,” he said.

Public Works Director Donald W. Bordeau said councilors need to determine whether the Public Safety Building merits its own custodian, as no other municipal building has such a full-time position. Bordeau also said that the average custodian cleans 3,600 square feet per hour, meaning he or she could cover the 17,300 square feet of the Public Safety Building in five hours.

“It comes to a balance of how much you’re going to spend and how much you’re going to maintain,” he said.

Bordeau said the city is also looking into the team cleaning concept to better allocate the city’s three custodians to cover all municipal buildings, including Town Hall and the Senior Center. Montville has three municipal custodian positions, but only two positions are filled.

Mayor Ron McDaniel also questioned whether the Public Safety Building should have its own custodian. He said an argument could be made for each municipal building to have a full-time custodian, and that the specialized contracts for the Public Safety Building will address some maintenance issues.

Vice Chair Billy Caron said he wanted to monitor how well team cleaning handles maintenance at the Public Safety Building before deciding on the issue.

“I’ll give it time and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll be one of the councilors who will say we need to put a full-time maintenance person down there,” he said.