BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer Contributor
LOVELAND -- The intersection of West Loveland and Railroad avenues has become the center of a disagreement over what kind of clock to install.
Mayor Lee Skierkiewicz and City Councilwoman Donna Lajcak lead opposing sides in the debate that has gone on since February. The issue: whether to put in a four- or two-sided clock in place of a pay telephone at the intersection, located in Loveland's historic district and along the city's bike trail.
It's been on the Loveland Beautification Committee's budget for the past 18 months.
And it was supposed to be in place in time for this week's USA Cycling Elite National Championships, along with flower baskets and new street signs.
Mr. Skierkiewicz favors the four-sided clock because it would be unique.
"Everybody's got a two-sided clock," Mr. Skierkiewicz said, referring to timepieces in Montgomery, Newtown and Covington.
Councilman David Bair also likes four sides because he thinks skaters and cyclists should see the clock as well as motorists. "It makes sense in that location because you have as much foot traffic and cyclists as you do motor vehicles," Mr. Bair said.
Mrs. Lajcak, who also works on the beautification committee, favors the two-sided, which would be placed on a 15-foot post and cost around $8,500.
"(Mr. Skierkiewicz) thinks (a four-sided) clock is going to look different from any other clock around here," Mrs. Lajcak said.
"I don't think so. . . . It's too big."
Damian Morano, product manager of the street clock division of the Verdin Co., a Pendleton firm that will build the clock, said Friday he would finish watercolor drawings featuring both a two- and four-sided version by Monday.
Renderings are to be given to city officials Wednesday.
Mrs. Lajcak also said the street signs have been ordered from Stewart Iron Works in Covington.
She did not know when they would arrive.
