Going postal? Mt. Crested Butte is looking for mail on the mountain

“It’s a possibility, but not definite”

Mail service on the mountain’s tumultuous past spans four decades. What started as a quest to develop a sense of community identity in the late 1970s has today become a thorn in the side of Mt. Crested Butte residents who wonder why they have to drive to another town, Crested Butte, to get their mail. The Mt. Crested Butte Town Council addressed the issue at its December 7 meeting and during a work session with Mt. Crested Butte businesses preceding the meeting.

Town manager Joe Fitzpatrick provided some history on mountain mail service. In the “early 1980s through citizen, business, and town efforts, a contract post office opened in the Three Seasons Condominiums in a convenience grocery/liquor store. [It was] extremely well received and successful; Zip Code 81225 was born—Mt. Crested Butte now had identity in the world.”
But in the late 1990s, Fitzpatrick explained, “The convenience store changed hands and the new owners did not like doing the post office work, and the postmaster pulled the contract due to too many service and customer problems and complaints. All Mt. Crested Butte post office boxes then were moved to the postal annex in Crested Butte next to the movie theater; we all drive to town for our mail.
“This move took away Mt. Crested Butte’s identity in that 81225 became a second ‘Crested Butte’ zip code. Thus, the Internet no longer recognizes ‘Mt. Crested Butte.’”
Mountain residents still desire some sort of mail service, and the town is exploring temporary solutions, including placing boxes at the Transit Center on the base area bus loop. The proposed permanent solution is a postal facility at the future performing arts center, but that project is still in the design and fundraising stage.
Fitzpatrick said, “This U.S. Mail delivery situation in Mt. Crested Butte brings up a fundamental question. Who is responsible for the delivery of mail in the United States of America? Is it the federal government or is it the local government?”
Al Desarro, media relations specialist for the U.S. Postal Service, said Tuesday in a telephone interview that Mt. Crested Butte declined street delivery when it opened the contract post office in Three Seasons. And now that the USPS is faced with challenging economic times, restoring postal service of any kind to Mt. Crested Butte may be difficult.
Even if the facility is incorporated in the performing arts center, the USPS will need to send an additional route driver up the mountain, and that will cost the USPS money it says it doesn’t have. And due to the relatively small amount of mail addressed to Mt. Crested Butte residents and businesses, Crested Butte postmaster Adele Bachman said, Mt. Crested Butte “would not get their own zip code in this day and age.”
The USPS is not tax funded, but rather operates on sales of its services, which are in decline; the service has a deficit of $8.5 billion. “We’re doing everything we can to save on costs—we’ve reduced our national workforce by over 100,000 positions the last few years,” said Desarro.
Despite those challenges, several Mt. Crested Butte residents, including Jim Sharpe and Anita and Bob Puglisi, are adamant about the need for postal boxes on the mountain. Sharpe in particular has been collaborating with councilman David O’Reilly on this issue. During a work session on the topic before the council meeting, Mt. Crested Butte businesses were asked if they’d consider changing their mailing addresses if postal boxes were installed on the mountain.
Gabe Martin, owner of Colorado FreeSkier, said, “I would be willing to do that. It would be a great thing to have your billing and shipping all in one. I’m proud to be a Mt. Crested Butte business.”
Tracy Hastings, co-owner of Treasury Liquors and The Store, responded, “It’s pretty challenging getting mail delivered here anyway. I would say we would potentially do that, but we’d keep our [existing] PO box for five years just to make sure… our PO box we’ve had for 18 years. But yes, we would do that.”
Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s Ken Stone and Daren Cole spoke on the ski area’s behalf. Stone joked, “I think if they [the USPS] ever get back into pro bike racing it will save everything for them. We’d certainly embrace a post office now with sights on having a postal center in the performing arts center. Changing the business’ post office to Mt. Crested Butte makes so much sense. I’m proud to be a business in Mt. Crested Butte as well.”
During the regular council meeting, there was more discussion about the financial feasibility and logistics of installing a temporary facility in the transit center with the goal of moving into the arts center upon completion of construction.
Councilman David O’Reilly is spearheading the project and explained the process to date. “We’ve had formal meetings to see if the transit center might be an option. The deed restriction would have to be changed and there would be a cost associated with that. We also wanted to have a local cabinetmaker provide a bid [for building and installing the boxes]. The decision was made to have one of our well-established local cabinetmakers give us a price. We want to purchase 900 boxes because when the PAC [Performing Arts Center] comes on line that’s going to be a community center and that’s where the boxes are programmed to be placed; 440 boxes could be installed in the transit center.”
O’Reilly calculated the expenses—legal costs, the loss of vending machine revenue, the cost of the boxes including freight, the installation the boxes and the storage of the remaining 460 boxes. He said the total cost came to $37,383; if 100 boxes are rented, for example, then the cost of renting a box would be $94 per year. Also, residents using these boxes would not have a PO box number, but rather their street address would be attached to the box instead. But the 81225 zip code would remain a second Crested Butte zip, instead of being restored to Mt. Crested Butte.
Once the PAC comes on line, the boxes in the transit center would be dismantled and moved there. But just having the facility in place may not be enough to secure mail service for Mt. Crested Butte, according to the USPS.
“We would have to look at a lot of factors, including the extra cost of a route driver going to Mt. Crested Butte,” said Desarro. “Realistically, I think it could have a tough time getting senior management approval. What we’re trying to do is be as lean and efficient as we can. With any additional costs, I’m not sure it would be approved. It’s a possibility, but not definite.”
Sharpe agreed to work on recruiting residents to sign up for the proposed service, and report back to the council.