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Show Kaysville post office plans progressing By TOM BUSSELBERG Kaysville will get a new post office, but those served by Layton and Bountiful will have to wait. That word comes after the recent financial cutbacks announced by the U.S. Postal Service. A site has been selected and construction contract awarded for the new Kaysville facility while a location and plans have been released for Bountiful. Layton activity is only in a preliminary stage with no site selected or plans approved. Announcement of a new post office for Kaysville came last October. Octo-ber. A 12,000 square-foot faciility, four times the size of the present rented building, was given the go-ahead go-ahead for a west Main Street site at about 300 North. A contract was recently awarded for construction with Postmaster Clark Richards indicating the facility facil-ity should be ready before the end of 1988. Bountiful Postmaster Nolan Burt confirmed reports that the new facility slated for downtown Bountiful will be "at least delayed at this time." He said the lease at the current South Main building has "several years to run" and concerns over land options for a new facility are major. With no funds now allocated to place an option on the site, it will probably be lost, he explained. Plans called for the new facility to be built on the east side of Main Street between Center and 1st North. A "rather critical space problem will continue in Bountiful," Mr. Burt said, although he stressed "the customer will continue to come first." Portable trailers were used in Sandy to alleviate space problems before a new facility was built, and that could be an option in Bountiful. Bounti-ful. The new building of about 30,000 square feet would have more than tripled what is currently available in Bountiful. "There will be no trouble for a couple of years, beyond that it will be critical," as far as space is concerned, con-cerned, the postmaster continued. The new facility would not have been operational for that length of time anyway, he said. Mark Nielsen, "manager of requirements" re-quirements" for the post office based in Salt Lake City, called the Bountiful situation a "capital freeze." Construction there will be on "indefinite hold. It could be (approved again) tomorrow or in two years, that has yet to be determined," deter-mined," he explained. In Layton, meanwhile, no new building looms in the near future either, said Postmaster Newell Wilson. A land purchase had been scheduled sche-duled for this month but has been withdrawn. No actual land negotiations negotia-tions had been undertaken and it was too early for any drawings to have been prepared. "Our biggest need is for additional addi-tional customer parking," Mr. Wilson Wil-son said. That's followed by more space needed to maneuver large trucks and for carrier parking. The last Layton Post Office addition addi-tion was completed 14 years ago when Layton served about half as many as today's 40,000-plus. Three zip codes are now included, two in Layton and a new Syracuse zip code. About 15,300 deliveries to residential and business customers custom-ers originate there. ... "We will consider all available options to make it as convenient as possible for our customers," Mr. Wilson added. Kaysville patrons, meanwhile, can look forward to an attractive building that will feature the latest in computer technology. Custom- ers and postal employees will be able to move mail more quickly. Parking will no longer be the problem prob-lem it is at the current rented facility. The two acre site will provide sufficient space for future expansion. expan-sion. The post office serves both Kaysville and Fruit Heights, hosting host-ing a combined population of about 17,000. "We're just waiting for the weather to break," Mr. Nielsen j '.said, referring to when construc- tion can start on the new Kaysville facility. "All is go." |
