In one of his final acts as a West Seneca councilman, Vincent J. Graber Jr. on Monday sponsored a measure intended to protect full-time workers in the town’s Buildings and Grounds Department, including two of his brothers-in-law.

The resolution, which was approved in a 4-1 vote, changed contract language to ensure that the town will maintain a work force of 14 full-time workers and two foremen.

For more than 20 years, the contract with the town’s blue-collar union said the town would “endeavor to maintain” a work force of that size. Graber said he wanted to eliminate any chance that the wording could be interpreted differently than how he understood it, so he sponsored a measure to eliminate the word “endeavor” from the contract.

He said he has been aware of the possible ambiguity of the wording during his 12 years on the board but felt he could advocate for its proper interpretation while he was on the board. Graber will lose his seat as a result of the downsizing that voters approved in June.

“I’m trying to protect the good work done by the Buildings and Grounds Department,” he said after the meeting. “I’m leaving the Town Board Dec. 31, and that’s one of the things I wanted to do before I left.”

“It’s your parting stiff to the residents,” Supervisor Wallace C. Piotrowski told Graber in a heated discussion between the two men after the meeting.

Piotrowski was the only board member to vote against the measure. He said he thought the town should look for ways to provide services more efficiently, including the possibility of downsizing through attrition.

He contended that if the board was going to agree to the change in the contract, it should have negotiated with the blue-collar union for something in exchange.

“Why didn’t we negotiate something?” he asked Graber. “What did we get back? Nothing.”

Piotrowski charged that the rest of the board supported the measure because they were trying to protect friends and relatives who work in the department, although he did not name anyone specifically.

One of Graber’s brothers-in-law, Steven D. Amoia, a crew chief, has worked for the town for many years since before Graber’s election to the board. Thomas Amoia, another Graber brother-in-law, was hired as a laborer after Graber joined the board.

Councilwoman Sheila Meegan’s husband, Michael T. Meegan, has been a laborer with the town since before his wife’s election.

Alan F. Parker, a friend of Councilman Dale Clarke, was recently hired as a laborer.