MILL CREEK – They call themselves the “bubble people of Silver Firs.”
As “bubble people,” they’re suspended in a world of postal pains-in-the-neck, they say.
Residents dread missing package deliveries because then they have to go to south Everett to pick the packages up, although other post offices are much closer, resident Jane Wiseman said.
“It’s quite a distance, it’s very inconvenient,” Wiseman said.
Residents of the 2,500-home neighborhood east of Mill Creek would like to either be assigned to a closer post office or, better yet, see a new post office built.
Postal officials, who say they’re working on interim measures, say neither of the above is likely in the near future.
Silver Firs is separated from the remainder of the south Everett zip code of 98208. An arm of a Snohomish zip code, 98296, runs in between.
Silver Firs is much closer to the post office in Mill Creek than it is to its designated post office at 2201 100th St. SW, residents point out.
If they stop their mail to go on vacation, for instance, they have to go to the post office near Paine Field to pick it up. And that post office is not a full-service post office, with no retail counter.
For routine services, such as buying stamps or sending packages, residents can go to the Mill Creek Post Office at 15833 Mill Creek Blvd. But that post office can be very busy, they say.
“That one’s already busting at the seams,” said Eric Wiseman, Jane’s husband.
Postal service spokesman Ernie Swanson did not have an explanation for why Silver Firs was bubbled off.
“There’s probably some historical connection there,” Swanson said. “It was probably considered to be the most feasible, practical, assignment of the ZIP code.”
Changing ZIP codes is a lengthy process, Swanson said. It starts with local postal officials, then must be approved by the Seattle district office and then officials in Washington, D.C.
Mill Creek post office manager Scott Manier said he’d like to take on Silver Firs.
“But in our area the growth is so tremendous that keeping up with it is a challenge in itself,” he said.
The city’s hopping.
“It’s the busiest area right now in the Seattle district,” said Bothell Postmaster Gene Williams, who oversees Mill Creek.
Mill Creek recently added 1,100 addresses in the Thomas Lake neighborhood to its delivery area, Manier said.
And Thomas Lake, formerly served by the Snohomish post office, was annexed to Mill Creek last year.
The Mill Creek office has added two counter stations in the past nine months, which has reduced wait times, Manier said.
Automated services can be used for most functions handled at the counter, and usually there’s no line, Manier said.
The postal service is negotiating with one private business about becoming a contract post office, and is considering pursuing another, Williams said. Contract post offices can provide all the same services as regular post offices except delivery.
Many customers apparently don’t know about Mill Creek’s current contract post office at Amsberry’s Home and Garden at 17414 Bothell-Everett Highway, Williams said. It’s open six days a week and is rarely busy, he said.
Eric Wiseman said that’s all well and good, but he wants to know the postal service’s long-term plan to meet the burgeoning demand.
Swanson said growth is just one of the factors the postal service takes into account when considering building a new post office. Distance between post offices is another, he said.
“The last few years we’ve done very little building of new post offices because we’ve been in a tight budget situation,” Swanson said. “I’m sure there are no plans in the near future to build a new post office out there.”
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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