Dover residents launch effort to keep local post office

DOVER — Last November’s announcement that the Dover post office was closing in March left many residents furious, and now the community is fighting to keep a postal presence in town.

A group of Dover residents, led by retired mechanic Paul Nowaske, recently began the process of finding a suitable replacement for the office.

Nowaske, who chairs a newly-formed committee dedicated to the issue, brought together a handful of residents to brainstorm a plan for a new post office location.

The committee met informally earlier this month and will have its first official meeting Thursday at Dover City Hall.

“Our immediate goals are, first of all, to find a site,” Nowaske said. “Second would be finding out what exactly the requirements are from the post office for a site in Dover.”

Owners of the Dover post office said in November they can no longer afford to operate the branch on the $150 monthly rent paid by the U.S. Postal Service. At a town hall meeting held after the announcement, post office operations manager Timothy Youngblood made it clear that the Postal Service had no intention finding a new location.

Instead, he said that it would be up to Dover residents to find or build a new office at their own expense.

“We’re impacted by the economy just like every other business,” Youngblood said at the time. “I would love to build a new post offices in a lot of places in Idaho, but we can’t.”

Although the committee is not sanctioned by the city, Nowaske said he would welcome participation from Dover officials. All interested parties are encouraged to attend Thursday’s meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. at Dover City Hall.

For more information on the meeting contact City Clerk Kym Holbert at dovercity@nctv.com]