Temporary closure of the Olpe post office is coming May 14, but Mayor Keith Pimple tells KVOE News the goal is to have a permanent post office back in town at some point.
The temporary closure of the Olpe office comes after negotiations failed for a new lease agreement at 118 Westphalia.
The building is owned by Cory Haag, who tells KVOE News he has leased the space to the Postal Service for better than 20 years. However, he says a new lease agreement was unattainable despite months of negotiations over a year ago. The reasons for the breakdown have not been divulged, either by Haag or the Postal Service.
Pimple says Olpe currently has two options for a permanent post office: an open building, of which there are only two potentially suitable for that purpose, or a mobile building brought in and built by the Postal Service. Plans have not progressed to that point yet, but Pimple says it will be a big step for the town when the post office is re-established.
Soon, Olpe residents can get their mail from the Emporia Post Office at 625 Merchant starting May 14 or they can pick up mail in Olpe once centralized mailboxes are installed near the current office at 118 Westphalia. Residents using the Emporia office will need a photo ID to pick up their mail.
The US Postal Service has not commented on the temporary closure. It says deliveries for rural residents will continue unaffected and pickups involving the blue mailbox outside the building will also continue as normal.
7:45 pm Sunday: Olpe post office closing ‘temporarily;’ Emporia neighborhood told to move mailboxes to street after dog bites carrier
The city of Olpe is looking for a new post office location.
Mayor Keith Pimple tells KVOE News the post office at 118 Westphalia will close “temporarily” later this month while the city finds a new location. Temporary boxes will be erected in downtown Olpe next to the post office.
The building is owned by Cory Haag, who tells KVOE News he has leased the space to the Postal Service for better than 20 years. However, he says a new lease agreement was unattainable despite months of negotiations over a year ago. The reasons for the breakdown have not been divulged, either by Haag or the Postal Service.
Haag says the lease ends June 30, but Pimple says the post office will close later this month. Further details from the city are expected Monday. Additional details from the Post Office are pending.
In separate business related to the Postal Service, several residents near Ninth and Neosho in Emporia were recently told they needed to move their mailboxes from near their homes to their curbs after “many occurrences of loose dogs” in that neighborhood.
A letter obtained by KVOE News indicates a mail carrier was bitten last month. Residents near the intersection were told to either rent a post office box or install a curbside mailbox — with specific instructions on height, distance from the curb and post depth. Residents have had their mail held at the Emporia Post Office until either option is completed — and if they don’t respond by mid-May, their mail will be returned to senders with the notice of “no authorized mail receptacle.”
Further details about the mailbox situation are pending.
