Mail sorting facility still set to close

Olivehurst's mail sorting facility may live on in a different capacity, but a hastily convened meeting Thursday in Washington, D.C., didn't seem to stop momentum toward transferring the building's mail sorting operations to West Sacramento beginning next month.

Yuba County Supervisor Mary Jane Griego and local postal workers union President Rick Page met in Washington with the deputy postmaster general, who Page said promised to consider two proposals for the sorting facility's future use.

One could be conversion to an equipment processing center, the other to a transfer facility, Page said. Either one could keep some of the 130 or so workers at the center now from having to transfer elsewhere.

"We just got a little bit out of it," said Page, of American Postal Workers Union Area Local 211. "He said they wouldn't pull back on the closure plan."

Griego, who was able to attend the meeting only through contribution of travel expenses by the postal workers union and a last-minute approval from fellow supervisors, said she emphasized the impact on the local economy if the center closes.

"From my perspective, we probably did the best we could do," she said, adding she also made note of increased environmental costs by having to truck mail from West Sacramento to Yuba, Sutter and other counties. "I think we've made them a little bit more aware."

Page and Griego said they'll huddle with other local officials when they return to craft a more detailed proposal for what could be done with the sorting facility, then present it to U.S. Rep. Wally Herger's office for follow up at the federal level. Yuba and Sutter counties are included in Herger's district.

By October, all mail sorting is to be transferred to the West Sacramento facility. Workers at the Olivehurst site will be transferred elsewhere, which Page said, relying on anecdotal reports so far, will likely mean their relocation from the area.

Page said the deputy postmaster general said he would personally investigate whether some Olivehurst workers could be transferred to jobs in the region.