Postal Woes

U.S. Postal Service officials met with Niwot Business Association members on Aug. 11 to discuss a recent petition drive to have Niwot assigned its own zip code in an effort to correct problems with package deliveries and getting Internet search engines to recognize some Niwot addresses.

While acknowledging the frustration of Old Town Niwot business owners and residents, USPS manager of postal operations Cathy Minter and customer service analyst Brett Todd had few suggestions.

“We just are not going to be able to do anything at this time, and we know that is incredibly frustrating to you all,” Minter said.

The postal service maintains a delivery database, not an address database, Todd explained. That means that homes and businesses assigned to P.O. boxes do not have the street address associated with them  in the USPS database.

“The Internet search engines buy our product – the delivery database,” Todd said. “It doesn’t have all the street addresses.”

That database creates problems when package delivery companies and business customers use Internet search engines to find a particular address. Some Niwot businesses and residences are located on streets with names the same as streets in Longmont, such as Second Avenue, and the search engines direct people to the wrong town.

“I must get three calls a week from people who have been directed by their GPS to a similar address that is in another town, usually Longmont,” said Robin Abb, owner of Rockin’ Robins’ Retro and Resale Shop. “They have already driven there, and when they find out they have to come back to Niwot, sometimes I lose customers.

Delivery to Niwot streets  is handled by the Longmont Post Office, and the 80503 zip code has been assigned as Longmont, a practice which also contributes to the problem.

“I can tell a company trying to deliver something to me that I’m in Niwot, but either their computer or the GPS in the truck overrides the address and turns it into Longmont, based on the zip code,” said Lois Dolan, who lives on Fifth Avenue in Niwot. “My deliveries end up in Longmont.”

Recently, the post office made a change that may help with mail and package delivery through the postal service according to Todd.

In early August, the Denver regional office of the postal service changed its policy to allow residents and businesses falling within the 80503 and 80544 zip codes to use Niwot instead of Longmont in their address line. Todd said that will prompt mail sorters to funnel mail to Niwot delivery routes, instead of delivering mail and packages to similar or identical addresses in Longmont.

“But it won’t help GPS problems or other deliveries,” Todd said.

NBA members asked Minter if the USPS could switch to street address delivery for Old Town Niwot.

“Street delivery was never set up for parts of Niwot,” she said. “Instead, the USPS provides about 90 P.O. boxes at no cost for use.” Switching to street delivery is not under consideration because of cost and lack of space.

“First of all, the Niwot Post Office is not big enough to physically accommodate carriers,” Minter said. “And we also can’t change to street addresses in areas where post office boxes are already in place, because it is an expense the postal service can’t afford.”

However, she did say that if businesses and residents agreed, they could petition the USPS to stop using post office boxes and move to controlled delivery with a centralized delivery location of multiple mailboxes.

“This would be 90 new deliveries for headquarters to approve,” Minter cautioned. “And the petition would have to be approved by postal headquarters in Washington, D.C.”

Minter estimated that the approval process could take a year or more.

Niwot Postmaster John Waida suggested creating a database of Old Town Niwot addresses that could be sold to the Internet search engines.

“This would be probably an easier option, and would solve the GPS and search engine problems,” he said.

Niwot News and Events

In other business, Niwot social media manager Heather Morgan told NBA members that the Niwot.com website received about 3,000 hits in July. The Facebook site for Niwot now has 941 fans, and more than 520 people now subscribe to the Niwot newsletter.

“We are getting information out about how wonderful Niwot is,” Morgan said.

A move to bring more businesses to Niwot received a boost when many of the Niwot commercial property landlords met recently. NBA President Tony Santelli, owner of the Niwot Tavern, reported that the facilitated meeting was “a great success.”

“We have about 200,000 square feet of retail and commercial space in this town, and about a 20 to 30 percent vacancy rate,” Santelli said. “The group reached consensus on a number of issues and agreed to work productively to fill the spaces.”

Santelli said that the group is working with Dana Crawford, who spearheaded development of Larimer Square and other Denver areas. “The group wants to work with community leaders to identify the character of the town, and then to pursue businesses that fit that character,” he said. “Dana refers to it as ‘the law of cumulative attraction.’”

Niwot retailers and businesses were recognized for their excellence in the recent “Best of Niwot – Gunbarrel – South Longmont” contest sponsored by the Left Hand Valley Courier. Gail Ludwig, advertising director for the Courier and owner of Tanglewood Traders, reported that Niwot businesses were voted into the top spots in almost every category.

August was a busy month in Niwot, NBA members were told. Events included the first Left Hander’s Day celebration of the national holiday on Aug. 13, Rhythm on the Rails concerts on Thursdays, a Lobster Bash Aug. 14, the Venus De Miles women’s bicycle race on Aug. 29, and the Niwot Farmers Market from 3 to 8 p.m. every Monday.

LID

Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee members added a deadline for submitting project funding requests at the committee’s Aug. 3 meeting. The new deadline calls for all requests to be submitted before the close of business on Wednesday prior to the LID meeting on the first Tuesday of the month.

“There have been some funding requests that have been submitted as late as just hours before the meeting,” said Lane Landrith, LID co-chair. “That doesn’t give committee members adequate time to consider the requests.”

“I don’t think it is unreasonable to ask for the information in advance of our meetings,” agreed Carrie Wise, LID co-chair. “That’s just good preparation.”

In other matters, LID member Bruce Warren asked how the LID would go about adding a property to the local improvement district. Megan Davis, Niwot LID liaison from the Boulder County Board of Commissioners, said that the statute authorizing the LID does not have any provision in it for adding properties to the LID.

“That mechanism was not included in the statute,” Davis said. She said that county attorneys would look into what process might need to be followed in order to make a change to a local improvement district.