Drake Post Office Temporary Closure
From: Deb Green
Sent: Wed 3/14/2018 12:07 PM
I stopped at the post office in Estes Park yesterday. Cheryl was busy but I was able to talk to another employee who took time to answer all the questions I had (sorry, did not get a name). There have been so many questions and rumors going around I wanted to share the information I got.
– Drake Post office will be closing TEMPORARILY, due to structural
damage not properly repaired after the 2013 flood. The target date is
April 1, but that can still change.
– Mail delivery for all Drake
post office box holders will be moved to Glen Haven. Some of the actual
mail boxes in Drake will be moved. For all others, temporary boxes are
being set up in Glen Haven (in process now). For anyone that has a box
that is not physically being moved, the plan is to place a key for your
new temporary mail box in your old mail box along with information on
the box number that the new key will open. Once the Drake Post Office
reopens you will need to return that key.
– Drake post office box
holders will NOT need to fill out forms to get mail forwarded – delivery
is supposed to change automatically. I have heard we will get at least 1
week notice of the change, possible more. It is still a good idea to
keep track of any important mail you are expecting and follow up rapidly
if you do not get it when expected.
– The Glen Haven Post office
will be staffed 8 hours a day to accommodate the increased workload, and
the lobby is available 24 hours a day, like Drake. The hours may be
8:30 – 5, but that is not finalized yet.
– The person I spoke to did
not yet know if the Drake building would be repaired, replaced, etc.
Until the post office is closed and the floors, drywall, etc can be
removed they are unsure of the extent of the damage. They need engineers
to check the building, county and post office approval for whatever
work they need to do, and then the work needs to be done. This is not a
large building, and the hope is to complete the work ASAP – it is a
priority. That said, anytime there are multiple levels of government
working together it can get complicated, as we all know!
I think that is everything I was told – hope this helps.
Deb Green
Updated Drake Post Office information – please read!!
From: Deb Green
Sent: Tue 4/3/2018 1:03 PM
I got a call a few minutes ago from Cheryl Jiles about the Drake Post Office. A post office truck arrived today to start the temporary move of the Drake Post office to Glen Haven. The large freestanding (also known as turn-style boxes) are being moved to Glen Haven today (Tuesday, April 3, 2018). Cheryl was not given any advance notice that this was happening today; she called as soon as she found out and sent the attached information to be shared. Many of these boxes are for packages, but some are larger rented Post Office boxes. Anyone using these boxes will need to go to Glen Haven to get their mail starting today. Currently hours for the Glen Haven PO are 8:30 – 12:30 and 1-5, when someone is there. Like in Drake, the post office boxes are accessible 24/7.
Mail for the remainder of the boxes will be redirected to Glen Haven this coming weekend (April 7/8); Cheryl said we will be able to get mail in Drake at least through Friday, 4/6. She will get us updated information as the week goes on, including how to access your mail in Glen Haven, which are still being worked out.
Please see the additional information below, provided by Cheryl – she also requests that you please don’t shoot the messenger!
Deb Green
DRAKE POST OFFICE CUSTOMERS
The Drake Post Office did not survive the flood as well as originally thought
and this building is in need of major repairs. To do this we must temporarily
move into the Glen Haven Post Office while the building is repaired or
replaced.
By housing our Post Office in Glen Haven we will be able to provide
extended window hours and full service and access to your PO Box.
The Drake Post Office Temporary move to Glen Haven will take place in
multiple segments.
PO BOX customers 291 through 430, the three turn-style type box sections
will be moved to the Glen Haven Post Office on 4/3/2018. All of these box
customers will be able to pick up their mail in Glen Haven as soon as the
boxes arrive and are installed.
PO BOX customers 1 through 290 and 430 through 500 (brass boxes) will
receive keys to a temporary box in a turn style system installed in Glen
Haven and should be completed by Monday April 7. The boxes will be
numbered the same as your box in Drake. Until the move is completed you
will continue to pick up your mail in Drake.
Every effort has been made to make this situation as easy as possible for
everyone.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and hope to move
back home as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and
understanding.
If you have any questions please contact
Kimberly Chase, Post Master
Cheryl Jiles, Supervisor Customer Services
Estes Park Post Office
970-586-0170
Posted: 10 April 2018 – Mail for Drake PO Boxes is now available in Glen Haven
I
stopped at the Drake PO building yesterday afternoon and found it
locked, with a notice on the door. I’ve included the notice below,
updated a bit after a conversation with Kimberly Chase, Estes Park
Postmaster.
FYI: Estes Park staff was given no advance notice that the Drake PO move would occur when it did, and are doing their best to maintain service levels to our community.
John Green
THE DRAKE POST OFFICE HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY MOVED TO THE GLEN HAVEN POST OFFICE
The Glen Haven clerk will have keys to the temporary box that you have been assigned, available during window open hours. As was the case in Drake, Glen Haven PO boxes are accessible 24/7. If you have any questions please call the number below.
WALTONIA STREET DELIVERY ADDRESSES WITH TEMPORARY DRAKE PO BOXES:
Your
mail is in Glen Haven at this time. The clerk will have keys to a
temporary box for you. Please call the number below for other options
available to you.
GLEN HAVEN WINDOW OPEN HOURS HAVE BEEN EXTENDED:
Monday through Friday 8:30am – 12:30pm (closed for lunch) and 1pm – 5:30pm
Saturday 9:30am to 2:00pm
OUTGOING MAIL WILL BE PICKED UP FROM THE BLUE BOX IN FRONT OF THE DRAKE PO BUILDING EVERY DAY AFTER 11:00 AM
Kimberly Chase, Postmaster
Cheryl Jiles, Supervisor Customer Services
Estes Park Post Office
970-586-0170
Post Office update – Wed 9/12/2018 4:58 PM
I was able to visit with Cheryl Jiles in Estes Park today and get the latest information on our Post Office.
In August, when we received a notice in our boxes, the Postal Facilities Office in Denver had decided to repair, not replace, our post office. The vendor that was awarded the contract came up to inspect the post office structure. He asked a number of questions about the scope of the project that he felt were not covered in the original project description that he had bid on: what type of mold was in the walls (almost up to the ceiling), were there any contaminants in the silt under the floor, etc. At the end of his inspection, he told the post office that repairing the building would require considerably more work than originally estimated and he submitted a second, much higher bid.
The new cost resulted in a different staff member from the Postal Facilities office coming up to inspect our post office. That employee concluded that they needed to determine the kind and extent of mold, test the silt for toxins, and request new bids that covered either repairing the building or replacing the building completely. He questioned the feasibility and wisdom of repairing the existing structure due to the extensive structural problems.
At this point in time the post office has issued a request for new bids, including testing the mold and silt. The costs of repair versus replace (giving our community a larger facility sized to match the number of current and likely future users) will be compared and a decision made. If the decision is to replace, the post office will then need to work with the owner of River Forks, get county permits, etc. As far as the post office staff in Estes Park knows, no one has begun to negotiate with the River Forks owner, because no final decision has been made on the work to be done.
The post office staff in Estes Park does not have a time frame for when the bids will be in and a decision made. The office controlling the process is the Postal Facilities Office in Denver. Estes Park has asked that the process be expedited as much as possible, with winter approaching.
This information is current as of this week. I want to add, I have not had any Estes Park postal employee say that our post office would not reopened: the question is repair or replace the building.
Deb Green
Subject: Re: [stormmountain] Post Office update
All,
This is Troy Jones. My family owns the River Forks. The Drake
post office owns their building but rents the land that their modular
post office building sits on from us. The decision makers at the post
office have not talked to us at all about their plans, other than they
continue to pay their rent every month. I attempted to talk to the
decision makers in Denver about it, and was told they feel it would be a
conflict of interest to talk to me about it. I’m not sure how that
would be, but that’s what they said.
I have talked to Eric Tracy at the Larimer County Engineering Department about the post office several times over the years since the flood, so I wanted to share what I know about some of the complications that would present themselves if the Post Office were to attempt to put a new building there or make the building bigger. The post office building (as well as the River Forks Inn’s building) is in the 100 year floodplain. I am told (by Eric Tracy) that it would be considered new construction to remove the existing modular and replace it with a different modular. New construction would trigger the need for a new site plan approval, which would then mean all current Larimer County development standards would apply, as if they were starting from scratch with a brand new development application. This existing post office building was placed in this location a long time ago, and is grandfathered in, in it’s current configuration.
The problem with applying new standards is twofold. First, the County (and FEMA) won’t allow construction of new buildings in the 100 year floodplain, unless you bring up the ground level to be 18 inches above the flood elevation, then build the new building on top of that. So that would require raising the ground level of that whole east end of my property, including where my brand new leach field is located. The other problem is that we would have to apply current county standards for parking lot layout and drive aisle sizing. There isn’t any room on the site to give up any more land to accomplish that. I agree, in a perfect world, it would be great to have a new building there, and have better parking and access, but the reality is that there isn’t any room to accomplish that.
Again, the post office has not involved me in any of their plans for this, so I’m pretty out of the loop. I learn more from these forum emails about it than any other source. My opinion is that their best bet is to repair the existing building in place, keeping it’s grandfathered status, so none of the site improvements would be required. Anything that triggers site improvements would cause the layout to be impossible without tearing out my new leach field, and my event shack among other things. As far as I can tell, the only way to reopen the Drake Post office in that location would be to repair the existing building and keep the parking and access the same as it’s always been. I’m open to brainstorming with the decision makers at the post office about solutions, but so far they have not allowed me to be part of the conversation.
Thanks,
Troy
Thursday 28 February, 2019 5:00 PM
Notice regarding mail service in Drake
Below is the text of the notice Deb found in our PO Box this morning. Apparently, there will be no retail window hours in Drake on Saturday, and weekday hours from 9:30 am – 4 pm. Interpreting what Cheryl said on the phone today about the PO Boxes moving to Drake today, and her willingness to hand out mail while she was there today, this notice needs a bit of an update. Perhaps mail will be accessible again in Drake after the PO Box cabinets have been safely installed in the new location; the notice below says Monday March 4th for sure. If anyone gets updated information, I’m sure we’d all appreciate hearing it.
John Green
(NOTE: Window Open Hours have been adjusted since this notice was posted – current window open hours are found in the right column of this website’s main page)
United States Postal Service
February 26, 2019
Dear Postal Customer,
Beginning March 4, 2019, the Drake, CO, Post Office will resume normal operations at a
temporary alternate quarters located at 1601 Big Thompson Canyon, in the east of the
River Forks Inn building.
The new retail hours are Mon-Fri 9:30am – 4:00pm.
Equipment and mail will be moved from the Glenhaven Post Office to the alternate site on
March 1st and 2nd.
Unfortunately, during the transition, P.O. Box Mail may not be accessible. However, all mail
will be available on Monday, March 4th at the alternate site in Drake.
Please excuse the unfinished appearance of the alternate quarters, it is a temporary
location only. The USPS will continue to work with appropriate parties to find a long-term
solution in providing postal services to the Drake community.
We apologize for the inconvenience the suspension of operations may have caused you,
but our commitment to safety for both our employees and customers precluded continued
usage of the old building. We remain committed to serving you and restoring service to the
Drake area.
Shareen Wertz
Senior Operating Manager, (A), Area 2
Colorado/Wyoming District
2:24 PM Thursday February 28, 2019
Mail Moving to Drake Now!
I just got a call from Cheryl Jiles to say that our temporary PO Boxes that have been in Glen Haven are presently being moved to Drake. As you may have heard, the east room in the River Forks Inn will be our temporary Post Office until we have a replacement permanent structure.
Mail will be available in Drake later this afternoon. I’m not sure what window open hours will be in Drake, but Cheryl will obtain your mail this afternoon after the units arrive there. They need to be ‘installed’ – attached to the walls – before we the public can safely access them directly.
I’m sure more info will be forthcoming, but Cheryl wanted to get the word out that the move is suddenly happening sooner than had been scheduled in the flyer that I understand was placed in our PO Boxes recently.
John Green
Friday March 1, 2019 Post Office Update
I spoke with Cheryl Jiles this morning and have some additional information to pass along:
1. The PO Box cabinets moved down from Glen Haven have been installed, and as of last night, the lobby for access to the boxes is again open 24/7.
2. While regional USPS management authorized a suspension of all services in Drake until Monday, Cheryl has arranged that Friday and Saturday mail will be delivered to the boxes.
3. While there will be no open window time on Saturdays, Saturday mail will be routinely delivered to the boxes.
4. The USPS location in the east room of the River Forks Inn is temporary. How temporary depends on a number of factors:
a. As you may have noticed, the River Forks Inn is on the market. When it sells, the new owners could require USPS to vacate the location.
b. When a permanent facility is decided upon. No decisions have been made regarding a permanent facility to replace the old Post Office building. While all options are on the table, it is unlikely that services will return to the old location. Leads for a suitable long-term location would be appreciated – let Cheryl know, and keep the pressure on our elected representatives as well as Shareen Wertz (who signed the February 26th notice placed in PO Boxes) to keep pursuing a long term solution, one with the capacity to serve the growth expected over the next decade or two both in the canyon and in our Storm Mountain area. Cheryl believes that the adjacent properties across the river that used to serve as a church and the Darling residence would fit the needs.
John Green
USPS Meeting Notice – Regarding Drake Post Office Relocation
USPS has scheduled a public meeting for Tuesday, April 23, 2019 4:00 p.m. at the Big Thompson Canyon Association building, 1479 Big Thompson Canyon Road (US HW34), next to the fire department. Click here to view a PDF of the meeting notice.
Post Meeting Summary:
A Location for a permanent post office has not been determined.
Per the meeting notice linked above, written comments on the proposal will be accepted until May 23rd, 2019 and maybe submitted to:
United States Postal Service
Robb Groetzinger, Real Estate Specialist – Drake
200 E Kentucky Ave
Denver, CO 80209-9950