Timnath Post Office ponders mail delivery plans

By JoAn Bjarko
Fossil Creek Current

It's traditional for growing communities to put a lot of planning effort into water, sewer, roads and utilities, but one important service often finds itself near the bottom of the list--mail delivery.

It's time to answer a question. Will Timnath residents have Fort Collins addresses because the Timnath Post Office is too small?

The answer: Not yet.

Timnath Town Manager Becky Davidson said the town expects to issue 200 building permits in 2007, with people living in those houses within six months to a year.

"It's very important for us to have Timnath addresses," said Mayor Donna Benson.

Timnath Postmaster Eileen Cordsen said she can handle some growth. The post office has 372 boxes with about 130 still available to rent. Cordsen also thinks she can make room for two carrier routes--about 1,100 addresses --by rearranging the furniture. Carrier routes, however, have to be approved by higher authorities.

The expert who watches such matters - the U.S. Postal Service--knows it needs to have a plan in place soon. It's anticipating 25,000 to 30,000 new addresses in the Timnath, Windsor, Severance and Fort Collins region in the next 10 years, according to Cathy Minter, manager of postal operations for the area. With that kind of growth, the communities will need some innovative solutions.

Community leaders and postal service officials agree their goal is to maintain the appropriate town name and zip code for new residents. The million-dollar question is how.

Minter said one solution is a carrier annex in a central location. With this concept, carriers delivering to Timnath, Severance and Windsor could receive and sort mail in one location, even though mail would have addresses specific to the three communities. Postal customers wouldn't notice any difference on where their mail is handled, and existing post offices would still have boxes and retail services.

"We don't have money to build new post offices in every city and town," Minter explained.

The annex concept is working its way up the chain of command, but it will have lots of competition nationwide. "We have a limited facilities budget across the nation," said Leigh Hettick, facility activation coordinator. For example, this past year postal officials in Colorado and Wyoming requested 19 new post offices. They received one. In addition to the carrier annex, the two-state region has identified a need for 32 facilities, Hettick said, so the next step is to prioritize the list.

Another possibility is that carriers for one community work out of larger, existing post offices. Travel time is a consideration, however.

Timnath's Davidson is keen to keep a post office of sufficient size in town. "We see the post office in Timnath as a gathering place," she said. "It's where we put public notices."