With the ticking on the end of a lease the United States Postal Service holds on the New Prague Post Office, city leaders are concerned there has seemingly been no progress to address the future of an aging facility with a history of problems in a community interested in growth.
Aside of the issues associated with service levels, the building is plagued by inadequate parking, concerns it does not meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and, a lack of space for its current and future needs. There is no drive-up lane for dropping off mail and the outdoor mail box is blocked by parked vehicles. The building is owned by an investment group based outside of Minnesota. Its lease with the USPS reportedly runs through February of 2025.
While that may seem like ample time to address the issues with the facility, Joshua Tetzlaff, New Prague’s city administrator, said approval for a new facility would likely take six months. Maybe more. Desai Abdul-Razzaaq, a communications coordinator for the USPS’s MinnesotaWisconsin-North Dakota region, said the USPS said it has been working on a solution for the facility. He said the agency is not yet ready to elaborate on what the solution entails.
The city is preparing for the possibility of a new post office and won’t rule out the potential it would be located outside New Prague’s historic downtown area. New Prague’s Economic Development Authority has land available to it for a possible site. Mayor Duane Jirik believes the time may have come to move the post office to another section of the community, one that allows growth of the facility. He said there has been some interest in the past 18 months to two years from potential investors possibly interested in building a new facility.
To see more on this story pick up the Jan. 25, 2024 print edition of The New Prague Times.
City, Craig pushing USPS for fix on NP Post Office
