Decision on Genoa Post Office site

Thursday, Dec. 18, 1997 | 10 a.m.

The site, just south of the downtown area but within Genoa's commercial zone, was endorsed late Wednesday on a 5-2 vote by a town advisory group that had been working with Postal Service officials.

The two opponents favored a site in the center of town, but one lot that was available there was too expensive - $300,000 - and an available building would have required extensive work to make it suitable.

The site that was picked is owned by Trudy Armitage. She has offered it to postal officials for $200,000 - the appraised value.

Postal Service representative Ed Bavouset announced the decision on the site after the advisory group was polled. He said design plans should be ready by February and a contract could be ready by June. The plan is to have a new, 3,000-square-foot post office ready by Thanksgiving 1988.

Genoa, Nevada's first settlement, is now served by a 636-square-foot office at Main Street and Genoa Lane. Locals and postal officials had agree all along that a larger space was needed, but disagreed on its location and size.

Rex Cleary, an advisory panel member who served as liaison to the Postal Service, credited Bavouset for following through on a promise to work with residents.

"He converted me from being an opponent to being a supporter of the Postal Service," Cleary said.

Cleary also said Sen. Dick Bryan, D-Nev., deserves credit for intervening on behalf of residents after the Postal Service initially sought to build a much larger office on sites that many residents opposed.

While there's still not total agreement, Cleary said a majority of the advisory panel saw no other choice but the Armitage lot because of the problems with the other two sites that had been recommended.