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May 20, 2008

Towns trying to get post offices

By David Lazenby

davidl@cullmantimes



WEST POINT — West Point Mayor Kenneth Kilgo delivered a progress report on efforts to create a post office during Monday’s regularly scheduled meeting of the city council.

Kilgo said he and four other Cullman County mayors met with county post master Lynn Reeves to discuss obtaining post offices in their communities.

Kilgo said the message he received from Reeves was discouraging. “She said your chances of getting a post office are two — slim and none.”

However, Kilgo said a continued effort on the part of the Cullman Area Mayors’ Council has yielded some results.

“We’re getting a little movement,” he said.

Although Kilgo was told the U.S. Postal Office was not interested in constructing a new building, he added, “They are trying to look for what they call alternative market access.”

This, Kilgo said, would involve the post office contracting with an existing business.

“There’s over 5,000 of them nationwide and they’ve been real successful for the post office and the businesses,” Kilgo said during a phone interview Tuesday.

Kilgo said Reeves will conduct a needs analysis for West Point with assistance from the Birmingham division of the U.S. Postal Service.

Kilgo said he hopes Reeves will consider West Point has the largest county school in the state and a busy four-lane highway.

“We have over 14,000 vehicles a day go through this light out here,” Kilgo said about the intersection of Alabama Highway 157 and County Road 1242.

If the analysis determines the need exists, Kilgo said there will be a “solicitation for suppliers” — the search for an existing business that would be interested in investing in a contract postal unit.

Kilgo said interested suppliers that meet the post office’s criteria would mail an information packet to the U.S. Postal Service’s marketing department in Denver, Colo.

“No one in this room will see any of it,” Kilgo said, adding this will eliminate possible suspicion of cronyism.

“That’s the beauty of this thing for me,” Kilgo said. “We aren’t involved in that selection process, and I love it that way — It’s as fair as it can be and it cuts down on all of these rumors.”

Kilgo said the process would probably take about one to two years to complete.

If a business is selected to be a postal supplier, Kilgo said the U.S. Postal Service would invest about $10,000 in the business — supplying signage, countertops and computers for the facility.

Kilgo said he is pleased with progress of the effort to get a post office. “It’s a step in the right direction.”

In other business at Monday’s meeting, the council took the following actions:

‰ Planned a work session that will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at city hall. ‰ Agreed to pay off $2,916.34 owed to the Cullman Electric Cooperative on a 3 percent municipal recovery tax from the town’s general fund.

‰ Tabled a proposed ban on the use of tobacco products at the community baseball field.

‰ Heard from three candidates who will be on the ballot in a June 3 election: Greg Nicholas and Melvin Hastings, who are running for district judge, and James Graves, who is running for the Cullman County Commission.

‰ Received an update on the West Point Volunteer Fire Department from Tim Martin.

‰ Heard from Grady Parsons of Southwest Water Co. who updated councilors about changes in the plan for a West Point water treatment plant.

‰ Approved the minutes from the April council meeting.

‰ Heard updates from Kilgo on the city’s sidewalk and sewage system projects.





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