Dear Ms. Hindenlang:

Tom Russell asked me to respond to your June 7 [2004!] inquiry. Mr. Russell has taken the position of Manager, Eastern Facilities Service Office in Greensboro NC and no longer works here at the Northeast Facilities Service Office.

On Jan. 21 [2004], at the request of the Village of Aurora, Real Estate Specialist Donna DeMaio and Facilities Requirements Specialist Robert McGrath visited the Aurora Post Office to listen to a proposal to relocate the Aurora post office into a historic building next door as part of a downtown "revitalization" project. It was a conceptual discussion only and no commitment was made on the part of the Postal Service to relocate. It was clearly indicated that such a relocation would be motivated by the request of the Village of Aurora and not by the facilities requirements of the Postal Service. If such a relocation was to be considered, the Postal Service would not want to see a rental increase or other increases in operating expenses. Ms. DeMaio mentioned several times that since the proposed alternate space was privately owned, competitive offers would have to be publicly solicited, even if the location under discussion was supported by the Village.

To assist the Village in determining the feasibility of their concept, Mr. McGrath subsequently completed a Facility Planning Concept and provided it to the Village's architect to quantify postal requirements for a relocated office. Postal facility requirements evolve over time, as do building codes, and a relocation provides the opportunity to bring the facility into conformance with current space requirements and current postal design standards. Current local building code requirements are also addressed. For those reasons, simply replicating the present facility may not be acceptable.

The Postal Service often cooperates with local governments in similar conceptual reviews without formal project approvals. If it appears that the Village's conceptual plan will move forward, a decision will need to be made to initiate a project for approval. Following project approval, a number of regulatory reviews are required, including the Section 106 review. It would not be appropriate to initiate those reviews at this time.

Please contact me if I can be of further assistance. I can be reached by return e-mail, by telephone at 860/285-7006, or by mail at Facilities Service Office, United States Postal Service, 6 Griffin road North, Windsor CT 06006-0300.

Paul Senk
Manager, Real Estate