By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
KIHEI, Maui — Plans for a $3 million-plus postal carrier annex in Kihei were put on hold Thursday when the U.S. Postal Service announced a nationwide freeze on construction and major repair projects.
The Kihei facility was the only Hawai‘i project affected by the spending moratorium. The Postal Service said the action was taken in response to a potential loss of $2 billion to $3 billion this fiscal year, caused by rising costs that are outpacing mail volume and revenue.
Felice Broglio, spokesperson for the Postal Service’s Honolulu Division, said officials will continue negotiations for a parcel of land in the Maui Research & Technology Park in Kihei and are hoping to close the deal soon. But that’s as far as the project will go for now.
The next step would’ve been to select an architect and a design for the building, Broglio said, but that won’t happen in the foreseeable future.
Officials were aiming for a mid-2002 completion for the facility, designed to house the South Maui delivery operation. Broglio said the plan was to keep open the post office on South Kihei Road and renovate it with upgraded retail space and additional postal boxes.
The new Kihei facility has been on the drawing boards for years, but only recently rose to the top of the division’s capital improvement priority list, Broglio said.
While only one Hawai‘i project was affected by the moratorium, some 800 projects were put on hold nationwide.
The Postal Service Board of Governors recommended the spending freeze and other reforms to keep rates for universal service affordable, Broglio said.
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