PORT TOWNSEND — The city of Port Townsend could acquire the former Customs House, while the U.S. Postal Serivce gets a new location, according to the terms of a loose agreement reached last week.
Last week week, the two parties announced they had signed a non-binding letter of intent that probably would involve a land swap.
If a deal is reached, the city would get the 115-year-old former Customs House at 1322 Washington St., and the Postal Service would receive an undetermined location to operate out of.
As of now, nothing is set in stone, said a Postal Service representative.
“We have a tentative agreement with the city,” said spokesman Ernie Swanson.
“We are looking at an agreement with the city of Port Townsend to allow the postal service to continue with some operations at the Washington Street location, and come up with a site where our carriers could work out of called a carrier annex.”
Swanson said he wanted to stress that the keyword in the deal was “tentative.”
“We’re trying to work something out and come to an understanding,” he said.
“We are trying to come to an agreement where the city would control the location where we are now and help retain it’s historic standing, and where we can move to another location that would improve our operating efficiency.
“There is no timeline for this whole thing.”
The current location of the post office has become a hot topic in Port Townsend in the past year.
