But Saratogans need not worry, said Assistant City Manager Lorie Tinfow, because even though the roof is not complete, it is watertight, and the final completion date for the project has not changed.

At the Nov. 6 meeting, Tinfow reported to the council that work on the roof, which was supposed to be complete by Nov. 1, and other parts of the project have fallen behind schedule two to four weeks.

But that doesn't mean an overall delay in the project. For instance, workers could not proceed with the planned electrical work on the building, but they were ready for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) work, so the latter task was bumped up.

"There's a progression of activity that has to happen," Tinfow said. "There's no single reason for the delay."

Contracting company Thompson Pacific began work on phase two of the project after the now-bankrupted Geo-Con Inc. installed the library's foundation and concrete slab. According to both the city and Thompson Pacific, the first contractor left behind unfinished electrical work, adding that in some cases crew members discovered that concrete had gotten into some ducts, calling for repairs by the new contractor.

"There have been some hurdles that we've had to overcome," said Adam Coll, project manager for Thompson Pacific.

"It's been a challenge working out [the first contractor's] mistakes," he continued. "But the delays have been minimal—not bad, considering what we've encountered from the last phase of construction."

Nevertheless, Mayor Nick Streit directed Tinfow during the meeting to find out why as few as three workers are out on the construction site on certain days. According to Tinfow, the number of crew members on-site varies from three roofers on Veterans' Day to 50 workers on other days. She also reported that Thompson Pacific has not had as many workers available as expected.

But the company has had 15 to 25 people working on the roof between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. every weekday except for Veterans' Day, which was a union holiday, according to Coll. Add to that the workers in charge of drywall, and the total number of crew members comes up to 40, Coll said. He suggested that if at any time it appears that only a handful of crew members are on-site, it might be because the other workers are inside the building and cannot be seen by people driving past the site.

Thompson Pacific has some flexibility to proceed with the project as they see fit, Tinfow said, so long as the company meets the overall completion date of Feb. 28, 2003.

As for the roof being incomplete, Tinfow said last week that the roof had already been covered by a granulated capsheet and a 30-pound layer of felt. In other places in the country, this is considered a completed roof, she said. Additionally, by her Nov. 6 report, most of the shingles had been laid on the roof. There's an opening where the HVAC will be installed, and any remaining holes on the roof were covered with plastic before the first rain fell two weeks ago, Tinfow said.

Delays to the project's final completion date would lead to further expenses for the city, which shells out $15,000 each month to keep a temporary library operating at Sacred Heart Church.

For now, the library's substantial completion date is still slated for the end of February. No specific date on the actual opening of the library has been set, but city officials expect the library to open its doors in the spring. The city will receive an updated report on the project's budget at its Nov. 20 meeting.