Wildomar's experiment with a four-day work week will end soon, as a majority of City Council members have opted to return to a traditional five-day schedule.

City Manager Frank Oviedo said the change back to an 8 a.m.-to-5 p.m., Monday-through-Friday schedule probably will occur within the next couple of weeks after the details are ironed out with employees.

A divided City Council made the decision Tuesday to discontinue the 7:30 a.m.-to-6 p.m., Monday-through-Thursday schedule that had been in effect since the beginning of November.

A 90-day review of the policy came before the council Jan. 27, but, with Councilwoman Sheryl Ade absent, the council deadlocked. Mayor Bridgette Moore and Councilman Scott Farnam voted in favor of the four-day week, while council members Bob Cashman and Marsha Swanson wanted to return to the old work schedule.

Ade was back on the council dais Tuesday and joined Cashman and Swanson in voting for the five-day week. They argued that being closed Fridays posed an inconvenience to the public and the city wasn't saving much money from being shut down one day a week.

In his report to the council, Oviedo figured the city would save about $3,120 a year from the dark days at the fledgling city's offices, which are located in a shopping center on Clinton Keith Road east of Interstate 15.

"I didn't see the necessity of it the first time around," Ade said, adding that the city is not planning to reduce its employees' hours as other government agencies have done to cope with squeezed budgets.

Wildomar's northern neighbor, Lake Elsinore, began closing City Hall on Fridays last year because of work force furloughs. Riverside County shuts down its administrative center and other buildings on Fridays.

The proposal for Wildomar to close Fridays came from Farnam in October while he was still serving as mayor.

He said the idea was to see if it saved money and whether the public would take advantage of the extended hours Monday through Thursday. While the council voted unanimously to try it for three months, some members voiced reluctance at depriving residents of access to City Hall on Fridays.

When the three-month review came up, Oviedo reported there had been little public reaction to the change and no complaints, so he recommended continuing the schedule for another nine months and evaluating the policy to see if it should be made permanent.

"We're just not busy enough to know how this really affects the community," Farnam said.

Although he still favors the four-day schedule, Farnam said Wednesday he wasn't disappointed it was nixed.

"You've got to pick your battles," he said. "It's just something that made sense to me, since the county's closed down and some of our neighbors are closed down at least every other Friday."

Farnam said he didn't believe the vote indicated a divisive trend.

"Everybody has their own ideas," he said. "I think it probably has a lot to do with generations. If you notice how that vote went, younger members of the council voted for the four-10s and the older council members went with the five days. The four-10 (schedule) is something that's relatively new and I think maybe the younger generation gets that and understands that more than the elder generation."

On the other hand, Farnam said, he, like Swanson, is in the real estate business and recognizes that having City Hall's doors locked on a normal working day could create some inconvenience.

"I know to a lot of developers, it's frustrating to them if they want to come over on Friday and it's closed," he said.

Call staff writer Michael J. Williams at 951-676-4315, ext. 2635.