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The U.S. Postal Service has decided against moving some mail processing operations from La Crosse to Rochester, Minn.
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Nicole Benrud-Tucker and Lad Doolittle sort out-going mail at the La Crosse Post Office.
Erik Daily |
In a three-paragraph letter, the agency notified city and business leaders and news organizations Tuesday that a study of La Crosse’s mail processing operations indicated consolidation would not significantly improve efficiency or service.
That conclusion was reached by Postal Service officials in Washington, D.C., said Pete Nowacki, spokesman for the agency’s Northland District, based in Minneapolis.
“We saw no advantage to going forward with it,” Nowacki said in a telephone interview. “So we’ve ended the study.”
In December 2005, the Postal Service notified mail-processing employees in La Crosse it would study the feasibility of moving some processing to Rochester. The study only involved mail originating from the 546 ZIP code area.
Tuesday’s announcement “is good for our community,” said Dick Granchalek, president of the La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce. He also said having mail from the La Crosse area sorted in Rochester before it returned to La Crosse potentially could have delayed delivery by a day.
“We feel good for the jobs that hopefully remain in La Crosse because of this, as well as the service to customers continuing to be as it has been,” Granchalek said.
“I think it’s a good thing,” said Mayor Mark Johnsrud, who, like Granchalek, was notified of the agency’s decision. “We felt it would be inefficient to send city mail to Rochester for sorting and then return it to La Crosse. As well as adding time, there was the possibility we were going to lose jobs in La Crosse.
“I think what they’ve determined is that La Crosse and the Coulee Region are growing, and that it doesn’t make sense to send mail to Rochester for sorting and then return it to La Crosse,” Johnsrud said.
About 65 clerks and mail handlers at the La Crosse post office are involved in processing incoming and outgoing mail, La Crosse Postmaster Carol Bliven said.
Steve Cahalan can be reached at (608) 791-8229
or scahalan@lacrossetribune.com.
