Local government officials are reaching out to U.S. Postal Service officials and Nevada’s congressional delegation to try to halt a plan to move the region’s outgoing mail processing to Sacramento, California. Members of Washoe’s Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday approved for county staff to make the case to federal officials that the move would have a slew of negative impacts for northern Nevada.
The USPS released its initial findings document on Reno’s postal processing and distribution center Feb. 6 as part of its 10-year plan to improve services and efficiency. The plan recommends investing up to $8 million in sorting equipment for mail destined for local addresses, but moving outgoing mail processing out of state.
USPS said it would save an estimated $3-4 million annually by moving outgoing mail processing to Sacramento.
Commissioner Mike Clark, who asked for the board to review the USPS plan and take action, said this would negatively impact service and cause delays in receiving mail.
“I think the quality of postal service would diminish by moving this sorting center … across a major mountain pass,” he said. “It’s a great distance. There’s weather, there’s traffic, there’s wrecks. More importantly, the human cost of loss of jobs for fellow Nevadans that are working there. I just look at so many unintended consequences.
“As this community has grown over the years and continues to grow, the last thing we need to do is have less postal service,” he added.
The USPS proposal for Reno’s Vassar Street post office would not involve layoffs of any career employees, according to the findings document.
Cadence Matijevich, the county’s government affairs liaison, agreed with Clark and said those concerns would be included in letters provided to Nevada’s congressional officials. She said the nature of the USPS as a federal agency without its budget allocated and approved by concerts means congressional members have limited influence over business decisions. Concerns also need to be directed directly to the postal service.
“We’ve gathered some information from CAL-TRANS about the number of hours of closures and restrictions on Interstate 80 over Donner Pass that we think perhaps was missed in the initial evaluation that the postal service conducted,” she said.
She also said the nature of the mail is just as important as the volume of it, with many materials processed in Reno coming from state government offices in Carson City.
Matijevich said she’s working with counterparts at the cities of Reno and Sparks, members of the Nevada Association of Counties, chambers of commerce, and officials at the state level to engage more agencies in the effort to retain outgoing mail processing in Reno.
“Our community is coming together to be certain that the folks at the post office who need to hear the full information and get the insight that can come only from the people in the community will be receiving that by their deadline,” she said.
Wednesday is the last day to provide comments to the U.S. Postal Service on its planned changes for Reno’s main post office. Community members can provide comment on the proposed plans here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mpfr-reno-nv.
Not all portions of the USPS proposal would have a negative impact on operations. The plan also includes updates to employee areas and renovation of parking areas to accommodate new battery-powered and next generation delivery vehicles. Secure lobby access, smart lockers and other technologies would also be added.
