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Cost-Cutting May Shut Downtown Post Office

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By GEORGE WILKENS

gwilkens@tampatrib.com

Published: March 4, 2009

PLANT CITY - The downtown post office, a fixture since 1935, could close under a planned consolidation of facilities to cut costs, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

A nationwide survey of facilities that can be eliminated through consolidation is in its preliminary stages, "But Plant City was on that list," said Gary Sawtelle, a Tampa-based postal service spokesman.

The possible closing was first publicly disclosed in City Manager David Sollenberger's report for the Feb. 23 city commission meeting. Sollenberger reported that an official from the postal service's Atlanta office telephoned him, inquiring whether the city would be interested in buying the building at 301 W. Reynolds St., or the adjacent parking lot west of Thomas Street.

The post office is across from City Hall, 302 W. Reynolds St.

If the agency closes the downtown location, the facility's retail function would shift to a "contract postal unit," a full-service satellite post office within an existing business, Sawtelle explained. That facility would be close to the downtown site, Sawtelle said.

"A lot of time, downtowns don't want to lose their post office," and the contract unit fills the void, he said.

If the downtown location closes, post office box service would be shifted to Plant City's other post office, at 2501 Walden Woods Drive.

This is not the first time the future of the post office has been threatened. Relocation plans were raised four years after the 1996 opening of the $2.5 million state-of-the-art facility on Walden Woods Drive.

But relocation of the old facility was among many projects put on indefinite hold because of tight financial times at the postal service.

In his report to commissioners, the city manager said he advised the postal service he would not recommend purchase of the old post office or adjacent parking lot.

Mayor Rick Lott, however, said the offer is worth exploring. "At some price there might be some interest" in the property, which the city could hold for future use, Lott said at the Feb. 23 meeting. "I'd at least like to stay in the loop."

Commissioner Mike Sparkman later recalled that "there was a big stink" after the postal service spoke of relocating the downtown post office in April 2000. "They wanted to close it up and only have the new post office," he said.

An independent federal agency, the postal service is facing the same economic problems as many businesses. It has asked Congress for permission to cut back to five-day delivery and was recently granted permission to raise basic postage rates from 42 cents to 44 cents on May 11.

"Last year, the volume of first-class letters was down 9 billion pieces," and a continuation of that trend could result in a $6 billion loss this year, Sawtelle said. "We're looking at everything to become more efficient," from processing mail to delivering it, plus consolidating postal operations, he said.
Sawtelle said he does not know how many consolidations are being considered, as the survey is being conducted by the agency's regional office in Atlanta.

How soon a decision might be reached is also unknown. Before the property would be offered for sale, however, the agency will issue a community notification of the proposed closing of the facility, Sawtelle said. The postal service hasn't set a price for the downtown post office.

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4433.

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