By Anne Thom

The peaceful flow of water won't come to Stacy without a price. On July 10, city maintenance supervisor Tom Archibald reported that Maguire Iron, the vendor working on the water tower, is requesting a temporary variance on the hours they are allowed to work.

City ordinance allows 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Maguire Iron is requesting 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Archibald said they are asking to be allowed to extend their hours beginning Wednesday, July 11. "Once the cranes are in," he said "they want to work until dark." City Engineer Chuck Schwartz asked Archibald if they want to finish early?

Archibald said Maguire's motivation has much to do with the company being located in the metro area resulting in a three-hour drive time for the workers.

City Attorney Peter Grundhoefer initially expressed his opinion that a change to the hours of construction operations would require a public hearing. After paging through ordinances, Grundhoefer concluded the hours stated as currently in force are specs and not code. In this case a public hearing would not be required. The company will be lifting and placing heavy pieces of the structure, welding and sandblasting. The council decided to approve the new hours.

Schwartz thought the council should reserve the right to withdraw their approval if too many complaints are received.

Mayor Daher and Councilor Barbara Avalos were not happy with the construction operations on Sunday.

The council also authorized moving forward on an appraisal of a sliver of land on Sherman Oaks Rd. Appraiser Julie Schwartz will be hired to go forward with this action. City Engineer Schwartz will create a legal description and obtain a title in order to proceed with condemnation of the land. Attorney Grundhoefer recommended that the council not proceed with spending the $2,250 unless the council was resolute in going forward to take the land through eminent domain in the event the city is still unable to come to an agreement on a price with the property owner, Councilor Mel Aslakson. Grundhoefer commented that given past proceedings, his opinion is negotiation is not going to be possible. There is also a small lot to the south that Grundhoefer suggested the council make sure is included in the description.

Daher agreed saying if it is not included there could be legal problems because that lot would be unbuildable. Daher wanted to make sure everyone understood that the motion at this time is not to condemn the land but that the council is with the appraisal and obtaining a legal description moving toward that. Daher said he is still interested in knowing how much the land is worth and this process "will give us some numbers to work with."