Announced May 9th, 2009 at the Deer Harbor Community Potluck

Friday night, May 9^th, at the Deer Harbor Pot Luck, Erik Smith reported the following progress on our Save the Deer Harbor Post Office campaign:

When the post office officials who visited Deer Harbor nixed the two existing houses and two bare land properties the committee offered as potential locations for the post office, the committee decided on an alternative plan—try to BUY the existing post office and acquire a new lease from the USPS.

Even though most of us refer to the owners of the Deer Harbor Resort as TrendWest, the entire property, including the post office building, is currently owned by Wyndham Worldwide, a huge hotel and timeshare company that owns the Ramada Inn, Days Inn, Super8 and Travel Lodge chains among others.

About three weeks ago the committee made an offer to buy the post office building from Wyndham.  On Friday afternoon, May 9, Wyndham came back with counter offer.

In principal the post office has agreed to renew the lease on the Deer Harbor Post Office if the community should become the landowner.  This arrangement would be cost effective for the USPS because they would not have to spend money to increase the capacity of any other post office on Orcas, nor would they have to install mailbox kiosks in Deer Harbor. 

If we are able to reach the final agreement with both Wyndham to sell the current post office building to the community, and the USPS to keep the Deer Harbor post office opened sign a new lease ten year lease, we will,

• A.  Celebrate
  
• B.  o some serious fundraising

Many details need to be worked out, but it looks very hopeful at this point.

Stay tuned!

It's Been Awhile...but things are in the works

It has been a while since we've posted anything here.  Several possibilities are in the works, but there is nothing definite yet, and rather than speculate on a possibilities, the committee has decided to wait until there is solid news to report, which will hopefully be soon.

What is certain is the Deer Harbor post office status will not change before February 2010, and we are very hopeful about the future of the Deer Harbor Post Office beyond February 2010.  

Thanks to everyone who has written letters, donated money, and supported our local post office!

Some Bits and Pieces

Request for Postal Building Requirements
Last week Cathy Young, Facilities Requirement Specialist, and Les Stewart, Operations Manager, both from the Seattle Office of USPS, visited Deer Harbor. Ms. Young invited our committee to submit a proposal detailing our plans to find, develop, and possibly fund an alternative site for the Deer Harbor Post Office. She promised she would forward our proposal to the appropriate officials in the Denver USPS Office. At that time, Ms. Young was unable to provide us with any of building requirements for a post office. We have sent a letter formally requesting a list of these requirements so that we can draft a cogent proposal.

Letter Campaign...THANKS!
The Committee thanks everyone who has already sent off their letters to our Congressional Delegation, and urge those who have not done so to mail theirs as soon as possible.

Meeting With Catherine Nash, Regional Head of USPS
Two committee members are planning to meet with Ms. Nash, Regional Director of the USPS in Seattle next week, if her schedule will allow.

Meeting with Seattle USPS Officials, Report

Apr. 8th,
Today the Save the Deer Harbor Post Office Committee met with Les Stewart, Operations Manager, and Kathy Young, Facilities Requirement Specialist, from the Seattle District Office of the USPS.

The Committee asked the Post Office Officials to explain where the Deer Harbor Post Office stands right now. Both officials said that the current USPS policy is to consolidate post offices within 10 miles another post office. And, more importantly, post offices facing termination of of their leases are looked upon as prime opportunities for closure. Thus we have two strikes against us.

After explaining our circumstance--difficult roads, serving outlying islands, etc., we asked what it would take to continue to have a post office in Deer Harbor. Their response was:

1. The USPS would consider a proposal from the DH Community if the community committed to build or convert an existing building, to USPS specifications, at the community's expense. We have two weeks to make such a proposal.
   
2. When asked what would happen if TrendWest were to extend our lease, the officials said that would be a major consideration in our favor.
3. No matter what happens, we are guaranteed that delivery of mail to Deer Harbor would continue, but that the facilities might be a central collection of lock boxes, rather than a post office.
   

The committee also received a letter from our Congressman, Rick Larsen, who has contacted postal officials on our behalf. Given all the issues facing our nation at this time, we really appreciate Congressman Larsen's efforts on our behalf, and look forward to his continued support.

PROGRESS!

FIRST:
Howard Barbour telephoned Katherine Nash, Regional Director of the USPS in Seattle this morning. She is aware of our dilemma, and again emphasized the financial constraints facing the USPS. She was assured that we had a lot of community support and community finances to build or adapt an existing building for post office use. She once again assured us that a no decision has been made to close the Deer Harbor Post Office, BUT we are one of four post offices whose leases will expire within the year, and who are under scrutiny by the Postal Service because of lease status.

The Postal Closure Committee has met to consider the 4 post offices without leases. Nash did not know what the Committee had decided, but will pass along those findings to the Deer Harbor Committee as soon as they are available.

Nash was asked if she would meet with representatives from the Deer Harbor Committee in Seattle, or send a delegation to Deer Harbor. She said both were possible, and further that she would meet with us providing she was in town, on any date we choose.

SECOND
This afternoon, Kathy Young, Facilities Specialist for the Post Office, Seattle, contacted us and told us she would be visiting Orcas and would like to meet with the committee on Wednesday.

Mass Mailing

To those of you who are waiting for your packets to mail to our Congressional Representatives:

They will be in your mailboxes by Tuesday, April 7th. For the time being, the committee has decided not to include USPS representatives in the mass mailing. The committee is going to first attempt to arrange a meeting with the Regional Director of the USPS. If that fails, then we will proceed with a mass mailing to postal officials.

Thank you for your support and interest.
The Committee to Save the Deer Harbor Post Office

MORE RUMOR CONTROL

In spite of what you may have heard, we have had NO WORD from the Postal Service that the Deer Harbor Post Office is specifically being considered for closure. EVERY rural post office across the nation is being considered for closure, including other Orcas Post Offices.

All we know for certain is that TrendWest has canceled the DH Post Office's lease, effective Feb. 2010.

Things you can do to help the Deer Harbor Post Office remain a viable entity:

1. PAY for your post office box
2. Conduct your postal business in Deer Harbor
3. If you are a Click and Ship customer, please use the Deer Harbor Zip Code
4. Try not to panic and abandon Deer Harbor in favor of the Orcas Landing or Eastsound post offices.

THANK YOU to the more than 70 volunteers who've signed up to write letters, organize packets, and send emails. And THANK YOU to the many many people who have donated a total as of today of $1700!