Politics & Government

Fight to Save Downtown Post Office Far From Over

Ross Currier: "We're definitely feeling we're making some headway."

The fight is far from over.

Northfielders have come out in droves to rally against a United States Postal Service plan to in favor of consolidating services with its Hwy. 3 South carrier annex at 2101 Cannon Road.

About 1,000 signatures have landed on paper and digital petitions. Minnesota’s federal delegation has gotten behind the cause. And a group of dozen or so Northfielders doesn’t plan to go quietly.

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“We’re definitely feeling we’re making some headway,” said Ross Currier, executive director of the Northfield Downtown Development Corp. and a member of the Save Our Post Office Task Force, which is comprised of various members of the community, including city staff and councilors. “It’s clear to us that some of our messages are reaching all levels of the USPS.”

USPS representatives announced April 5 that Northfield had been identified as one of many sites throughout the nation for consolidation or closure in an effort to mitigate billions of dollars in losses the past several years—and expected losses for the future—as more and more people turn to alternative methods to communicate with each other and ship goods. Northfield was selected because the USPS says the downtown space is too large for the services and using a smaller facility can save money.

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For the task force, the goal, for now, has been simple: keep USPS officials busy.

With the April 5 announcement, a 60-day comment period started, which expires in less than three weeks. During that time, residents, the city or, in this case, a task force, can request documents and data to brainstorm and offer other solutions other than consolidation.

Currier and Suzie Nakasian, a city councilor who is on the task force, said the group is attempting to get their hands on any document they can—financial, blueprint and otherwise—to find a way to keep the post office, built in 1936, open in its current location. As one might imagine, it’s taking time for the requests to process.

On Tuesday, the Northfield’s City Council agreed to send a letter to the USPS requesting that it postpone its scheduled closure of the city’s historic downtown post office until an alternative proposal can be submitted.

USPS spokesman Peter Nowacki told Northfield Patch this week that there wasn’t an instance he could think of where a community had successfully overturned the USPS decision, but said local response is always part of the process, beginning to end.

“The wishes of the community are something we take into account in the decision-making process,” he said. “We’re still looking into this.”


Ripe for a reprieve?

Last week, Brooke Dorobiala from Congressman John Kline’s office was in town to meet with the task force. Two days later, Currier, Nakasian and City Administrator Tim Madigan joined Dorobiala on a conference call with a member of Kline’s Washington office to further discuss the proposed post office consolidation.

All said, Currier said he’s been more than pleased with how Kline’s staffers have helped—and advocated—for the post office to stay downtown.

“It was obvious they had done a lot of background work,” he said, adding that the Congressman’s staff has had conversations with higher members of the USPS that everyday citizens may not have access to.

Calls to Dorobiala and Kline’s communication director, Troy Young, were not returned.

Aside from the task force’s exchanges with Kline’s office, a recent visit from regional USPS officials left Currier feeling optimistic about the potential to save the downtown post office.

“That solution was developed by a USPS person at 10,000 feet,” he said. “It made sense from the office in Denver, but when the guys from Minneapolis and St. Paul came down here, they shared some of our criticisms of the annex.”

And though the USPS selected Northfield because it saw potential to save money, Currier said that’s far from reality.

The USPS estimates it will take $250,000-350,000 to expand the annex to meet the needs of Northfield. It's estimated $750,000 will be saved over a 10-year period by making the move.

Currier said the downtown office has a gross income of about $900,000 a year. He believes a move to the south end of Northfield would only hurt postal business further because of the sheer number of people who live and work downtown who are not interested in driving to the annex location, potentially costing the USPS more than the $75,000 a year it hopes to save.

At the April 5 council meeting, a post office discussion branched off in which many residents and business owners said they’d find a different means for mailing needs.

Philip Spensley said at the impromptu gathering that he may consider scrapping a proposed expansion of his business into the downtown area.

“If you folks are leaving, I’m not coming downtown,” he told the USPS reps. 


What now?

With the deadline less than three weeks away, Nowacki of the USPS said the fate of the downtown office would not be decided as soon as the comment period expires, especially because alternative uses for the building hang in the balance as the task force waits for data and documents from the USPS and the council waits for a response to its letter asking for a delayed closure.

But Currier said there have been plenty of creative ideas floating around for the building if it helps keep some post office presence downtown, ranging from a brew pub, an indoor farmer’s market, an arts incubator or a business office.

The task force’s priority is clear, however.

“Our focus is keeping the USPS post office in the facility,” Currier said.

Should the USPS ultimately consolidate its services in Northfield, the city would have the first opportunity to purchase the building before it is offered for public purchase.

As far as a timeline to upgrade the annex, Nowacki said it’s difficult to estimate because there are several steps in the process, including bidding out work and executing construction.

A recent consolidation with a post office and its annex in Aberdeen, SD, Nowacki said, took about four months from the time of the official decision. He said that was a quick process, but generally it takes longer. Similar consolidations are happening right now in Fergus Falls, MN, and Yankton, SD, also a result of declining post office business.

Northfield’s downtown location is one of 16,000 offices considered for closure or consolidation out of about 32,000 post offices throughout the country. Nearly 500 branches closed last year, according to the USPS.

Though Currier feels good about the progress and pressure the task force has brought to Northfield’s situation, he knows the battle is far from over—and more importantly—far from a victory.

“It’s hard to see how this will play out. (The USPS) is a huge organization and they’ve got a really big problem,” he said. “We’re a tiny little pawn in a tiny little pond. 

 

WANT TO SIGN A PETITION TO SAVE THE POST OFFICE?
Online petitions can be signed on and the Northfield News. Petitioners can sign physical copies at Used-A-Bit Shop, Studio Elements, Aquatic Pets, Just Food Co-op, Goodbye Blue Monday and the Northfield News.

WANT TO WRITE A LETTER TO SUPPORT KEEPING THE DOWNTOWN POST OFFICE?

Patrick Donahoe, Postmaster General
U.S. Postal Service
475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20260-0010

Anthony Williams, Regional District Manager
Northland District
U.S. Postal Service
100 1st Street
Minneapolis, MN 55401-9990
612-349-3505


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