USPS Move Not Happening Soon

From: CRThoburn
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 6:27 PM
To: Senk, Paul J - Windsor, CT
Subject: Aurora NY 13026 - USPS relocation project

Dear Mr. Senk,

Postmaster David Kulakowsi recently posted a notice in the Aurora Post Office
"I will not be abandoning the project to relocate the Aurora Post Office. I was in contact with Paul Senk last week and he assured me that approval has been granted by headquarters and that things are progressing, albeit at a slower pace that we would like. I anticipate that at some point in the future he will be planning another village meeting. I will do whatever is necessary to assist in getting the Aurora Post Office in to a location that this community deserves."
Has approval already been granted to this project?

It seems unlikely that the USPS could do this without advertising for a location (as you explained last fall in your letter to our mayor), without a public hearing, without any Section 106 Review, and without full consideration of the project sponsor's anticipatory demolition of historic buildings within a National Register District.

Please clarify the situation for me.  Thank you very much.

Crawford R. Thoburn
Aurora NY

Subject: RE: Aurora NY 13026 - USPS relocation project
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:26:03 -0800
From: "Senk, Paul J - Windsor, CT" <paul.j.senk@usps.gov>
To: "CRThoburn"
CC: tomg@wells.edu

Mr. Thoburn:
 
Approval has been given to continue with the project, but no location has been selected, and a number of processes remain to be completed.  I will try to briefly explain.
 
There are multiple approvals required before a contract can be accepted for a new post office facility.  These can be grouped into three categories: Conceptual approval, Due Diligence, and Funding approval.  
 
Following the contact Mayor Gunderson made with the Postal Service, a public meeting was held in January 2004 primarily to share information between the community and the Postal Service.   During the subsequent months, conceptual approval documentation was being prepared and circulated within the Postal Service for internal review and approval.  In anticipation of conceptual approval, a second public meeting was held in October 2004, and the NY SHPO was notified.  Postal Service Headquarters granted conceptual project approval in March 2005, with the condition that the contemplated relocation would not require an increase in the rental cost of the leased quarters. 
 
As you know, this project has generated a great deal of controversy in the community.  I met with Village officials last July and reviewed the project status and scope.  Last Fall Postal Service Headquarters initiated a review of all customer service facility projects in light of the possible impact of new technologies being developed will have on post office facility designs.  At the end of December, 2005, headquarters gave approval to proceed with the Aurora project.  This is the approval that the postmaster was referring to in his message.
 
This latest approval allows me to proceed with what I described as the Due Diligence phase of the project, during which several processes run more or less concurrently.  I will again formally notify the NY SHPO of the project and resume the 106 review process.  Various State and local governments need to be notified.  I plan to ask the Village to hold at least one more public hearing to ensure that all interested parties have an opportunity to be heard and ask questions.  I am aware that we have not met the guidelines for responses as set forth in the Community Relations Regulations, but no irrevocable actions have been taken by the Postal Service.  Given the number of comments submitted by interested parties, I decided to allow sufficient time for comments to be submitted to enable me to prepare a response to similar inquiries made by numerous correspondents.  I intend to issue that soon.   
 
Preliminary construction plans have been ordered, which will describe an idealized version of our facility requirement.  The plans will be a part of a public solicitation for a new facility.  Once the solicitation process closes, it will be possible to begin a review of specific sites.  That review will consider many factors, including safety, service, economic, environmental, historic resource, local planning/zoning/building design, and public comments.  That review needs to completed before a recommendation can be made for final, or funding approval.  A contract for a new facility cannot be entered into before funding approval is obtained.
 
The latest "approval" of the Aurora project is another step in a lengthy process designed to provide a postal facility that is functional and acceptable to our customers and employees.  Please contact me if you require additional information regarding that process.   
 
Paul Senk
Manager, Real Estate, NEFSO
860/285-7006
 

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