VERO BEACH — Representatives from the U.S. Postal Service took a seat in the Vero Beach City Council Chambers Monday evening expecting to hear from residents who have an opinion regarding a potential relocation of the Tropic Branch store.
But no public input was to be had at the public workshop as no one from the public attended.
Diane Tindle, the manager of Post Office operations for the 329- ZIP code area, went through with the presentation all the same.
“We’re looking for input from the community,” she said to the nearly empty room. Only a reporter and a photographer from VeroNews.com were in the audience.
No Postal Service employees would lose their jobs in the event the relocation were approved. They would be relocated to the new building or placed elsewhere within the Postal Service system.
Tindle went on to explain that the Postal Service has suffered $40 billion losses in recent years and must figure out a way to reverse that course.
To that end, the agency is looking at ways to pare down expenses – which has led it to consider relocating the Tropic Branch, located currently at Tropic Square Plaza on 6th Avenue at US 1, to the K-Mart plaza 1.3 miles north on US 1.
The move would save the Postal Service $620,000 annually, according to Tindle. The agency wouldn’t have to pay rent on the Tropic Branch location, nor would it have to pay utilities or maintenance.
Instead, the retail operation would be housed with what is currently the Vero Beach Park Carrier Annex – a non-retail operation where mail is sorted and delivered by the carriers.
Diana Alvarado, manager of property management for the Postal Service, said the relocation would help the agency “right-size” its network. The annex is 19,000 square feet but only utilizes 12,000 square feet, leaving room enough for the retail store.
If the move were approved, those with Post Office boxes at Tropic Branch would pick up their mail at the new location. Their assigned box number would not change, Tindle explained.
Mail delivery and ZIP codes would not be affected. And those needing stamps, packing materials and other retail services would still be served during the same business hours – just in the new location.
Alvarado said the decision regarding the potential relocation has not yet been made – and won’t be until after Aug. 27, when the 30-day public input period has concluded.
According to Tindle, the lease at Tropic Square is up in February, which gives the Postal Service a narrow window in which to make a decision and make changes if need be.
“Something has to be done,” she said.
Alvarado said a decision could come the week following the Aug. 27 deadline for public input. If the decision were made to relocate the branch, there would be another 30-day period during which an appeal could be made by the public.
The Postal Service’s vice president of facilities would be in charge of deciding the appeal, Alvarado said.
In the event the relocation were approved, the agency would get to work building out the annex’s unused space for the retail store. The work would be expected to be complete before the lease on the Tropic Branch expired.
Tropic Square Plaza is currently the home of an Italian restaurant, a tattoo parlor, a nail salon, a convenience store, and a tax service, along with the Post Office. Two other units are vacant.
Anyone interested in providing input on the proposed relocation of the Tropic Branch Post Office to the K-Mart plaza is encouraged to submit written comments by mailing them to Diana Alvarado, Facilities Headquarters – Southern Area, U.S. Postal Service, 1300 Evans Ave. Ste. 200, San Francisco, CA 94188-8200.
