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Union raises mold and staffing concerns at Elm Street police station; committee seeks mitigation plan
Summary
A union representative told the committee on June 25 that mold remains at the Elm Street station and that lockers and operational space remain inadequate; staff said a mold mitigation plan and hiring efforts are underway.
A union representative told the Public Safety Disability Building Committee on June 25 that mold remains at the Elm Street police station and that ongoing facility problems are affecting members' working conditions and recruitment.
In an operational update, the representative said the station "still has not been cleaned from the mold that's currently in the station and affecting my members," that replacement lockers for temporary firearm storage have sat uninstalled for weeks, and that officers are forced to do multiple tasks in one room, including processing evidence. The representative said the conditions are hampering recruiting and retention.
Staff responded that they have a mold mitigation plan and hoped to begin remediation on a weekday so officers are not displaced over a weekend; the staff representative said details of the plan would be provided to the committee the same day. Staff also described ongoing recruitment efforts: screening broad applicant pools, conducting interviews, extending conditional offers and pursuing academy start dates, while noting some candidates withdraw and that background checks and medical/psychological clearance remain barriers to rapid hiring.
Nut graf: the committee acknowledged the operational urgency of the Elm Street conditions and asked staff to deliver the mold mitigation schedule and to continue work on recruitment pipelines; remediation timing and the engagement of external resources were left as near-term follow-ups.
The committee discussed the resource implications of a prolonged remediation and that temporary closures could reduce available patrol staffing if multiple days of the facility are unusable. Staff noted the time and cost invested in candidate backgrounds and training and reiterated that academy schedules constrain start dates.
The meeting closed with the committee asking for a written mold mitigation plan and timetable, and scheduling a follow-up meeting on July 1 when staff will report progress.
