It could take a little longer for a piece of mail to travel across the Flathead Valley if the U.S. Postal Service moves forward with plans to close the Kalispell mail processing center on Meridian Road.
The closure of the mail-sorting center is part of an initiative by the USPS to reduce spending across the board. The plans to close sorting facilities and retail offices across the country has gained even more urgency as the USPS announced last week that it ended the 2011 fiscal year with a net loss of $5.1 billion. Before any decision is made, the USPS is holding a public meeting on Dec. 1 to see how it may affect the public.
“It’s all part of the process,” said Pete Nowacki, spokesperson for USPS. “It’s one of several factors we look at, how it’ll impact service, and we need to listen to people. I can’t stress enough how important it is for people to write to us and let us know how it’ll impact them.”
Earlier this fall, the USPS studied the financial benefits of closing the Kalispell processing center. A summary of that study was released on Nov. 15 and concluded that shutting down the Kalispell branch and combining it with the one in Spokane would save approximately $575,412 annually. Broken down, the postal service would save $707,865 annually on processing, $76,626 on management and $413,815 on maintenance. One area where it would cost more is transportation, where the postal service would have to spend $622,894 annually to move mail from the Flathead Valley to Spokane where it would be sorted. Mail from Kalispell would be joined by mail from Missoula as well if that processing center is closed, which is also under consideration.
If the Kalispell processing center closes, 12 jobs would be eliminated, yet Nowacki said that didn’t necessarily mean those people would be laid off. Nowacki said the postal service has a no-layoff clause with some long-serving employees and it would work to reassign all Kalispell employees.
Although there would still be mail service in Kalispell, and the retail store on Meridian Road would remain open, it would take longer for mail to arrive in the area. Currently, there is overnight delivery on pieces of mail originating and destined for Kalispell. If the processing center were to close, that mail would first have to travel to Spokane.
Nowacki said cuts must be made for the postal service to survive. According to the USPS, mail volume has decreased by 20 percent since 2007. And in 2010, USPS saved $99 million by consolidating 35 mail processing centers. By closing or consolidating processing centers, the postal service could save $3 billion annually.
Even after the meeting, it would take a few weeks for the USPS to make a final decision on whether the Kalispell sorting center would be eliminated. USPS announced earlier this month that no closure would occur before Jan. 2, as to not disrupt mail service during the busy holiday season.
Other postal service property is also being considered for closure in Northwest Montana. Small retail outposts in Dixon, Elmo, Olney and Stryker are all on the chopping block and the period for public comment about those closures was to end in the coming days. Once the final comments were received, the USPS would review the response and make a final determination on whether to close facilities for good.
The public meeting about the Kalispell processing center will be held on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel.