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Dillboro post office appears to be halted

By Rose Hooper

Dillsboro may not get a new post office after all.

That's the word town officials are hearing, and it has them more than a bit upset.

A year ago in March, Dillsboro was notified that "the U.S. Post Service has determined a need to establish a new postal facility in Dillsboro." The directive came from Gordon Jacobs of the Charlotte office.

Then the Postal Service conducted a hearing on March 15, 1999, concerning the new post office. At that time, Postal Project Manager Hunter Roop said that two years was the earliest Dillsboro could get a new facility.

Bid proposals for the project, including 4,109 square feet of floor space, were accepted until June 15, 1999. From those proposals, Roop recommended Western Builders property on Haywood Road.

"What we are hearing now is that the Postal Service plans to lease the present facility for an additional five years," said Town Clerk Herb Nolan. "One of the reasons for wanting the post office moved was lack of parking space and the danger of pulling out onto the major highway. From what I understand, the way the post office plans to deal with those problems is to simply eliminate the five parking spaces that are there now."

Additional parking problems could arise as Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, now under new ownership, is planning an expansions just as the spring tourist season begins to flourish.

"Almost every postal box in Dillsboro is rented, and already the traffic is so bad you can never find a place to park," Nolan said. "The parking problem is only intensifying."

Postmaster Linda Bryant said she is disappointed at hearing the news and had no answer for the post office's apparent turnaround.

Her supervisor, Danny Jones, said, "It's an on-going process of looking for a site, and no final determination has been made at this point."

From Charlotte, Jacobs said, "There are other issues the facilities people are evaluating." Jacobs told The Herald that he would outline those issues in a letter to Mayor Wade Wilson. As of press time, Wilson had not received the letter.

Dillsboro officials have recommended that no lease be signed without Postal Service representatives sitting down "face-to-face" with the board and a committee of local citizens.

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