Starting Monday, April 18, the City of Oakdale will change its customer service office hours for all non-police city buildings.

With the new hours, city offices will open up two hours later, four days a week, Tuesday through Friday. The hours for those days will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., while Monday hours remain the same from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

With the change, city business hours will also extend one hour, until 6 p.m., on the second Wednesday of the month and open at 8 a.m. The reason for the extended hours on the second Wednesday of the month is to accommodate customers who have had their water shut off for non-payment and must make the appropriate payment to have their water service restored. The extended customer-service hour could save the citizen $115 that would have otherwise been charged to them for an after-hour water service restoration fee.

With revenues coming in lower than anticipated, city officials are looking at some creative and necessary ways to continue its commitment to provide quality community service. The restricted closure of city offices is not unique for providing service with a limited work force. The police department already has its doors closed to the public on Wednesdays for normal business matters such as report requests, citation sign-offs, and vehicle releases.

The change in hours will run through the end of the calendar year, when it will be re-evaluated.