Pushing The Envelope The Pressure Builds On Both Post Office Workers, Patrons As Expansion Plans Postponed

From a cramped work station, Debbie Dixon carefully sorts piles of envelopes into metal slots.

Just beyond her small cubicle, stacks of empty crates, boxes brimming with envelopes and large metal carts jam the aisles where she and other postal employees must walk.

Outside the post office, frustrated patrons wait for one of a handful of parking spaces to open. The traffic on Seventh Street backs up behind them.

Neither employees nor patrons should expect relief from this situation any time soon. Plans for a new postal building to fix these problems have been delayed.

“This is ridiculous is what it is,” Dixon says, her arms cradling a pile of mail. “It needs immediate attention.”

Crowding both inside the Coeur d’Alene Post Office and outside in the small parking lot has angered patrons and employees for years.

The Coeur d’Alene Post Office is so crowded that the outside loading dock now doubles as a sorting area for employees. A heater hangs from the ceiling so workers can shuffle packages in some warmth.

Nine mail carriers must work out of the Hayden Lake Post Office because there is no room for them in the Coeur d’Alene building.

“It’s not an efficient operation when you’re crowded like this,” said Ron Carroll, Coeur d’Alene postmaster.

In April, postal officials announced a plan that would create 20 parking spaces and improve working conditions for employees.

Under the proposal, the post office would be remodeled so its back side on Sixth Street would become the front of the building. The 20-plus parking spaces used by delivery personnel would then be open for public parking.

Postal officials also planned to find an existing building to move most of their delivery and mail processing personnel into.

But the project has hit a few snags.

“There were no suitable existing buildings,” said Margaret Young, administrative services manager for Idaho and Eastern Washington.

Postal officials considered several buildings, including a church off Best Avenue, Carroll said. However, it would have been too costly to fix the buildings for their needs.Paper shuffling has also slowed the process.

The project was transferred from an office in San Bruno, Calif., to an office in Denver. Denver officials said Friday they haven’t yet had a chance to work on Coeur d’Alene’s problems.

Carroll said postal officials are now planning to have a facility built. Just when is still up in the air, but don’t expect it before 1996, he said.

Carroll promises he and the rest of the Coeur d’Alene employees want the new building as much as residents do.

“I think it’s long overdue,” Dixon says. “It gets worse every day.”