Politics & Government

Bellevue Council: Post Office Move From Downtown Bad Idea

The U.S. Postal Service's move would put the new consolidated post office between Northup Way and Northeast 12th Street, about a mile and a half away from either current location.

Bellevue City Council members criticized the U.S. Postal Service’s proposed consolidation of the Midlakes and Bellevue main post offices to a location outside of downtown at Monday night’s council meeting.

Earlier this month, the , commonly known as the Pella Building.

Read  and .

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Bellevue councilman John Chelminiak said that he has heard from west Bellevue residents unhappy about the new location, which would be about a mile and a half away from either of the current locations and outside of downtown Bellevue.

“In my mind it’s not an acceptable location,” he said.

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Bellevue city manager Steve Sarkozy said that the new location selection was "disappointing," and that for many people, "to try get all the way out to that area from a downtown or west Bellevue location is not helpful." 

Bellevue Councilman Kevin Wallace said that the U.S. Postal Service had asked the city for help in finding a new location, if it could not find a suitable location.

“If they’re looking to us to help them, I think it’s reasonable to respond to them,” he said.

The , which has been up for sale for several years, has been sold, U.S. Postal Service spokesman Ernie Swanson told Bellevue Patch last week, and there have been buyers interested in the location on Bellevue Way in downtown. The Post Office may stay at the Midlakes location until mid-2013, when the new post office is slated to open, he said.

Three other suitable locations in downtown Bellevue were identified, but all are now occupied, wrote U.S. Postal Service Real Estate Specialist Russ Rainey.

Local officials and residents have until May 9 to request a review of the U.S. Postal Service's selection.

The  because of budget cuts required nationwide.

The new post office would be a retail facility, where people could post letters, rent post office boxes and purchase items such as stamps, Swanson told Patch last week.

Mail carriers would be moved to another facility near Factoria, Swanson said.

This move would leave Bellevue with two dedicated post offices. No changes for the  have been announced.

Contacting the Post Office

Any citizen may request a review of the selection in writing, according to the U.S. Postal Service. The request must be in writing and the post office or location affected must be identified. The requester must identify the decision tp which he or she objects, and and the reasons for the objection, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

Requests for erview may be mailed to:

Vice President of Facilities

C/o Craig Ballard, acting Western FSO Manager

Western Facilities Service Office

7500 East 53rd Place, Room 1108

Denver, Colorado, 80266-9998


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