Tampa continues its fight for a post office
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Advocates for restoration of a post office in Tampa are doing everything they possibly can to prod the U.S. Postal Service into action.
People like Mayor Jim Clemmer and his wife, Mary, Gary and Carole Spohn, and Tom and Dee Duggan are not giving up the fight.
There are many little towns like Tampa, population 150, scattered throughout Kansas, and most have post offices. In Marion County, Ramona, Lost Springs, and Durham, with less population all have one.
Tampa had one, too, until May 2003, when it was "temporarily" closed due to mold within the walls because of roof damage and infiltration of rain water.
A letter to Tampa customers, dated April 14, 2003, called the closure "tentative." Now, more than three years later, the town still does not have a post office.
When no other suitable facility was located, the post office was replaced with an outside cluster of boxes which sit on concrete and are exposed to the weather.
Steve Jirak, mail carrier for Ramona, delivers and picks up the mail. He also provides direct services out of his truck, such as stamp sales and certified mail.
"At first, we didn't consider the closure much of a problem," said Carole Spohn, a member of the Tampa Community Association. "The first two years we had hope."
Mayor Clemmer said the people of the community were told at first not to complain too much to postal officials, because that might upset them. So they didn't, although they complained a lot among themselves.
Following that advice came back on them. Two years later, when they realized the postal service wasn't planning to do more, they began contacting postal officials and requesting a new facility. They were told there hadn't been any complaints from the Tampa community about the present arrangement.
Daniel Taylor, manager of post office operations out of Salina, has said in a letter to the Spohns that the comments received since then will be considered carefully.
Taylor never has been to Tampa, but he defended the collection boxes as meeting the needs of the community, including the need for a place for interaction.
"I certainly understand the collection box units are not the same as a post office, but it does give customers a place to meet," he wrote.
He also noted a postal facility is not constructed when effective and regular service can be provided by a more cost-effective alternate service.
The people in Tampa might dispute the "effective" and "regular" part of that statement. Sometimes the concrete by the boxes is icy or slick, and it's impossible to pick up the mail when it's raining or snowing.
Clemmer said the drop box can't always hold all the mail, and letters sometimes get wet.
"Steve Jirak is not the problem," Carole Spohn said. "He does a good job but he is not always able to deliver the mail at the same time everyday due to weather or road conditions. His time of arrival varies."
Gary Spohn noted that rural people need a post office, too. If they are forced to go to a post office in another town such as Ramona, Durham, or Hope, they may do more business there and less in their hometown.
He said it also costs more in fuel for residents to travel to another town. Some seniors can't travel a distance to get to a post office, and sometimes the road is bad or a train is blocking the way.
If we build it, will they come?
The former Tampa Post Office building is owned by a business firm in Chicago and was bought as a package deal including other buildings in other places. Clemmer said the city tried to buy the building but was told it couldn't be sold separate from the others.
Two contractors in the area have offered to construct a 700 square foot building for lease to the postal service as a post office.
Clemmer submitted to the regional office in Omaha a pencil drawing of a floor plan, then a computerized drawing, and then a $500 architectural drawing, but there has been no official response.
The town was hoping for a commitment from postal officials that they would lease the building if it was constructed, but that has not been forthcoming. The town would like a response in writing.
Taylor noted it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to equip a new facility.
According to an article about Tampa's situation in the May 8 issue of the Salina Journal, the U.S. Postal Service faces stiff competition from private companies and the Internet; consequently, it is trying to cut costs.
Clemmer gets upset when money is brought up as the issue. He said the U.S. Postal Service gave $9 million to Lance Armstrong for his participation in the Tour de France but can't afford to help a rural community have a small postal facility.
The Tampa Community Association has been in touch with elected officials, but they can't do much because the U.S. Postal Service is separate from the government and doesn't get any tax dollars.
Representative Jerry Moran was in town May 30 and planned to meet with them May 31 but was unable to keep his commitment. One of his aides has been in touch with Tampa.
Clemmer said Moran offered to assist with setting up a face-to-face meeting between Tampa representatives and an official of the postal service.
Moran told the Salina Journal that the structural problem at Tampa's post office gave the postal service the opportunity to use the situation as a way to cut costs.
"It's a real story for every other small community," he said. "You are at risk."
Carole Spohn said about five years ago all 50 state governors signed a pact to keep post offices in small towns. She said Governor Sebelius has contacted postal officials on Tampa's behalf.
Another source of support is NAPUS, the National Association of Postmasters of the United States. It has a committee which deals with the closing/consolidation of post offices. Chairman Betty Eickler has been in touch and provided suggestions for things to do to get the postal service to act.
Spohn said she would like to convince a TV station to report on the town's situation.
She has learned of at least five other towns in Kansas that are in a similar position, but each postal district deals with the situation differently. She hopes to identify the towns and develop a network of communication with them.
The feelings of the community are summed up by the words of Gary Spohn:
"We pay the same amount of postage and taxes as everyone else, and we are being discriminated against because we are small and rural," he said. "I don't think that's right."
Mayor Clemmer strives to remain optimistic. Under his leadership, the town council has taken aggressive action to improve the community. It has established several new housing units, resurfaced streets, and restored the historic Catholic hall as a senior citizens center.
Butch's Diner was closed for a while but opened several months ago as Granny's Little Diner.
"There's cars on Main Street now because of the café, and there'll be more when we get our post office back," the mayor concluded.
