UPPER FREEHOLD: Staff to be relieved of toilet scrubbing

Township Committee seeks cleaning service for municipal complex

By Peter Sclafani, Staff Writer
   UPPER FREEHOLD — Municipal staff soon may no longer have to spend their down time scrubbing the toilets in the municipal complex.
   Municipal Clerk Dana Tyler unwittingly became the center of attention at last month’s Township Committee meeting when she revealed that she had been scrubbing the toilets in town hall because cleaning services had been cut from the budget.
   Public works employees have only recently taken over the task within the past several weeks, she said.
   After a lengthy discussion at the July 12 Township Committee meeting about who should also be responsible for cleaning the employee kitchen, the office desks and how many times a year windows should be cleaned, the governing body agreed it should hire a cleaning service to do the job.
   The committee asked Township Business Administrator Dianne Kelly to obtain bids from cleaning services for the two municipal buildings.
   Committeeman Robert Faber suggested enlisting a current employee who is willing to do the work for extra pay. Others said the township should investigate the cost of hiring an outside cleaning service first before making a decision.
   ”We should at least go out and get the bid,” Township Committeeman Steve Alexander said.
   The Township Committee said it would also consider hiring somebody part time to clean the buildings, instead of hiring a cleaning service.
   Bidding will be based on the cost to clean the windows twice a year, and regularly vacuum, dust, clean the bathrooms, kitchen and common areas.