Colorado Springs Mail Processing Center To Close

The United States Postal Service announced Thursday that the Colorado Springs mail processing facility will close with operations moving to Denver.

250 workers would be affected in the Colorado Springs facility.

According to a U.S. Postal Service Press Release: As a result of the study that began five months ago, the Postal Service has made the decision to move all mail processing operations from the Colorado Springs, CO, Customer Service Mail Processing Center into the Denver, CO, Processing and Distribution Center. Once the transfer is completed, the mail processing operation of Colorado Springs will cease. There will be no change to the retail operations, window services or business mail entry at Colorado Springs at this time.

The Postal Service has experienced a 25 percent decline in First-Class Mail volume since 2006, and receives no tax dollars for its operations, relying instead on the sale of postage, postal products and services.

?The decision to consolidate mail processing facilities recognizes the urgent need to reduce the size of the national mail processing network to eliminate costly underutilized infrastructure,? said Chief Operating Officer Megan Brennan. ?Consolidating operations is necessary if the Postal Service is to remain viable to provide mail service to the nation.?

Specific dates have not been set for the transition. Until a specific date has been announced, residential and business mailers will continue to be served through the current facilities.

In December 2011, the Postal Service agreed to impose a moratorium on closing or consolidating post offices and mail processing facilities prior to May 15, 2012, to give Congress and the Administration the opportunity to enact an alternative plan.

This delay was designed to allow Congress sufficient time to enact comprehensive postal legislation. In the meantime, the Postal Service continued all necessary steps required for the review of these facilities, including public notifications, public input meetings and consideration of public comments.

Implementation of this consolidation is contingent upon the outcome of pending rulemaking for a proposal to revise existing service standards. This announcement is provided in advance so that appropriate planning and notification can be made in accordance with existing employee agreements.

Update: We called Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall’s office to talk about what can be done to avert the closure of the facility. Senators Udall and Michael Bennet were among a Senate group that pressed the post office to do nothing until the middle of May.

Here is Senator Udall’s response: ?The Senate is expected to begin debate very soon on legislation to address the serious financial problems facing the U.S. Postal Service. While we need to act quickly to reform the postal service to help rein in costs, I believe it can be done in a way that won?t slow down delivery and require the closure of postal facilities like the one in Colorado Springs. Earlier this month, I asked Senate leaders to make several changes to their proposed legislation and urged them to move quickly. With jobs and important services at stake, we can?t afford to wait.?