Waynesville city council members held a special meeting Tuesday night to learn more about the future location of their city’s post office. However, they left a meeting with postal officials knowing more about the site selection process but little about where the post office would actually go.
Waynesville Postmaster Jim Woodman has made moving the Waynesville post office a high priority since he came to the office a half-decade ago. Located on the courthouse square, the existing post office doesn’t have adequate parking and city police say many low-speed crashes happen when postal patrons pull out of the parking spaces into traffic.
Russell Rainey, a postal real estate specialist from Colorado, told city council members that postal officials have to follow a three-step process. Renovating the existing facility is the first option evaluated, followed by efforts to obtain an existing building. Only after those two options are exhausted do postal officials move on to the option building a new post office.
Mayor Cliff Hammock said he and other council members strongly support moving the post office, and said he hopes postal officials expedite the selection process.
“Just from hearing the discussion tonight, the existing facility renovation is not an option,” Hammock said. “It could be as much as 22 months for (postal officials) to make a decision, though we hope we can shorten some of that time.”