Parties fighting over who will pay to fix post office

Parties fighting over who will pay to fix post office

November 8, 2001

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

It all comes down to money.

All the players involved with building the Dolores post office agree on a plan to fix its precipitous access from State Highway 145, but are still debating who is financially responsible.

"Generally, I like to have local governments resolve their own issues, but it appears that that was not happening, and enough constituents called me, so I decided to gather people together," said Rep. Kay Alexander (R-Montrose). She mediated a Tuesday meeting between the town, Colorado Department of Transportation, U.S. Postal Service, the post-office developer, and an adjacent landowner.

The Dolores post office was built in 1999 without a valid CDOT highway-access permit, across a town street that hadn’t officially been vacated, and, according to the town, without adhering to town zoning conditions.

Now CDOT is demanding that someone pay to fix the access and bring it up to state standards. Four Corners Materials estimates remodeling the access will cost more than $45,000.

"Our sole interest is the safety on it and making sure the appropriate person pays for it," said Richard Reynolds, a CDOT representative.

Janice Scott, the neighbor adjacent to the post office said that two major accidents have occurred at the intersection since the post office was built.

"This is a problem, but I don’t believe it was caused by the post office, and I don’t believe it was caused by D & L Constructors," said Dennis Pottenger, the developer who built the post office. He claims that the town told both him and the post office that Ninth Street had been vacated and they didn’t need a permit from CDOT.

The town did sign off on the post office’s building permit and certificate of occupancy, but it claims the developer should have known better than to take its word on whether to get a highway access permit or not.

"I think the town is at a point where we don’t want to pay anything, because we feel the town is not responsible," said Mayor Jim Moore.

The town’s planner at the time, Richard Grice, passed around a surveyed map he said he had been provided by the developer that showed Ninth Street still in existence. He asked the post office and developer why they would assume the street had been vacated when the survey was available at the time.

"I know that they knew that it was Ninth Street and it was not vacated. So I don’t think the town has any responsibility here at all," said Grice.

"Maybe I was naive," admitted Pottenger, "because all of a sudden, we, the builder, are the bad guy."

At the time, the town’s zoning regulations did not require a survey with a building permit, and both the developer and the post office said the town told them the street was vacated, calling it "pretend Ninth Street." Ninth Street has never been used or made into a real street.

"We were told it was vacated. We were told," said a frustrated Pottenger.

Grice also said the post office had not met conditions required by the town, including lighting and sidewalks.

"I think this is about the citizens and correcting a situation which I think to some degree all parties can take responsibility for," said Alexander.

At the end of the meeting, the town of Dolores agreed to consider the issue at its next town meeting, including whether the town would contribute monetarily to the project. Pottenger has agreed to pay for removing any improvements erroneously put in on Ninth Street by D & L Constructors.

Town staff members plan to work with Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s office to make sure the U.S. Postal Service follows through with town building requirements.

Alexander said she would pursue state energy-impact funds to help pay for the improvements.