Freeport city council balks at new post office location

FREEPORT -- Because of its boom in homes and businesses, the City of Freeport has been asking for a new post office.

At the Sept. 25 City Council meeting, Mark Palfrey, of the U.S. Postal Service, presented a plan for a new office on the west side of the U.S. Highway 331 bypass.

Plans call for a more than 5,000 square foot facility situated on about three acres within the planned Plantation Marketplace. The plan includes turn lanes and the location is designed for growth of the post office as the need arises.

Palfrey said the Postal Service has secured funding for the project and was able to secure the site, saying it best fit the department's needs. He said a post office can't be built without the approval of the city but that the fiscal year for the Postal Service ends Tuesday and the Postal Service is under pressure to purchase the land and start the project.

The new location is 1.6 miles from the current post office. He told the council USPS is limited in that it can only purchase property that is offered to them.

The council indicated residents do not want the new facility away from the town center and said residents have expressed concern with the traffic on the bypass, and the eventual four-laning one day.

Council members said they wanted something closer in, a walkable distance. The project planner said the Postal Service and engineers have determined the location is safer.

City attorney Clayton Adkinson questioned as to whether the community is being made aware of the project and location. He agreed it had met the required advertising, but asked if a public hearing was needed.

The council was told the Postal Service is a business and Freeport is growing. Post office authorities want room to grow in the future.

Councilman King asked why another site on Business 331 was not considered.

Palfrey said the site had been offered but it is not on a major thoroughfare. He said the post office wants exposure like any other business. He also said the site backed up to a house and building costs would be higher. The proposed site is a commercial site.

The local postmaster said he only had one person who walks to the post office. One man used to ride his lawnmower.

He told the council he is working in an antiquated building and customers are appalled with having to deal with semi-trucks and forklifts from the lumber company next door. He said speeding on the new bypass is a law enforcement issue.

The current post office has eight leased parking spots at the post office and seven are used by employees. He said the location is a very bad situation.

He also told council members currently there are five mail routes but need a sixth one. He also pointed out, even with the current market, they are still selling houses. He said everyone who comes into the post office says they can't wait for the new facility.

Other residents talked about the location on old 331, now called business 331, and noted the site has its advantages, but questioned the location in a residential area near schools.

At one point the discussion became so heated Mayor Mickey Marse had to bring the gavel down. Council members were frustrated with what they see as a lack of concern for the public through no hearings and a previous experience with the Postal Service in which they considered a new facility only to have it not come to fruition.

Council Jean Arrant questioned the size of the project being just under the footage requiring more hearings.

Palfrey said if the project is not approved, then as of Tuesday the funding dries up. He said the project is not funded in 2009 and future funding is tight. This does not mean there will never be a new post office, but it is not know when that time would be.

City Attorney Adkinson said it is the postal service's fault the project was brought up in the ninth hour and the council was put into a bad position. Council member Arrant said there are other pieces of property available and in the past they have had a number of parcels, but they were turned down.

Mayor Marse said Freeport needs a new post office but the postal service brought the matter up at the last minute. Marse told the council they need the post office and the council might have to go ahead and approve the facility, let them build it and when there are people with problems, then send them to the Postal Service.

Council member Earl King said if the postal service walks out the door, then it will be several years before they will get the postal service back. He agreed it is the last minute, but said, like the mayor, they should go ahead and build it.

Two other residents spoke, one saying there are other post offices near homes and the other saying the town is moving and that is where they put the bypass. Another resident said driving 1.6 miles is no big deal.

Council member Jean Arrant said she feels she is in a position where they will throw away the opportunity if they vote against it, but also feels the public was not given a chance to speak before the meeting.

King made the motion to approve the project but there was no second. Later Council member Charlie Simmons asked to have a special meeting Monday night at 7 p.m. at city hall to reconsider the application. Council members agreed and urged media representatives to help them let Freeport residents as well as those outside Freeport's limits who use the current post office to attend and let them know if they want the new facility on the 331 bypass or want the Postal Service to look for another location.