When it comes to recent negotiations between the Town of Truckee and the United States Postal Service concerning a decision to move the downtown Post Office from its long-standing location, Town Manger Tony Lashbrook says there’s good news and bad news. ‘The good news is they did agree to analyze the idea of a split facility. The bad news is they still believe a single facility is the best way to go.’
In an appeal letter addressed to USPS Real Estate specialist Gary Mattox dated June 16 and signed by Mayor Barbara Green, the Town urges the agency to consider the option of maintaining the existing downtown site and building a separate sorting and distribution facility in another location. Town Council members are unanimously in support of maintaining a post office in the downtown core. Both the General Plan and the Downtown Specific Plan support the retention of important public facilities downtown. A recent Chamber of Commerce Survey and public comments at several workshops on the subject showed the public feels the same.
In the appeal letter, the Town stresses that the alternative of considering a separate sorting facility while keeping an office downtown has not been adequately pursued by the postal service and that it ‘should have occurred before the Request for Proposals (RFP) for sites was initiated by the USPS.’
The RFP drew responses from a handful of Truckee property owners, which were presented and discussed at a public workshop the Town held in April. In a May 15 letter to the Town, the Postal Service indicated that they had selected the 5.9 acre Forest Service parcel adjacent to Pioneer Trail and would be replacing both the Deerfield and downtown post offices with a new facility there.
Congressman Doolittle has put a call into USPS on the Town’s behalf and Senators Boxer and Feinstein have also been alerted to the dilemma.
Rules say that the USPS has 14 days to respond to appeals, but Lashbrook isn’t overly optimistic that the letter will elicit a reaction. The Town sent an appeal letter to western Post Office headquarters in March that was completely ignored. Despite a history of being snubbed, Mayor Green ends the appeal on a polite and positive note: ‘The Town sincerely appreciates the continued commitment of the USPS to work closely with the Town of Truckee in developing this critical facility. We stand ready to help you in any way that would involve the maintenance of a post office in downtown Truckee.’
