FRUITLAND, Iowa — Fruitland residents say they will regain the city’s post office, even if they have to raise funds for building supplies and donate construction labor.

“We’re going to make this happen,” Mayor Bill Brockert said during a town hall meeting with the Fruitland City Council on Monday at the city’s fire department.

The approximately 50 residents at the meeting focused on how — not if — the city should foot the bill for rebuilding at the site of its former city hall, where the U.S. Postal Service leased space until the building was struck by a tornado on June 1.

City offices are nearly ready to relocate into a new city hall at 104 Sand Run Road, where space was added for the post office, but postal officials have said they can only continue their lease with the city if it rebuilt at 136 North St., the site of the former postal facility. Local officials had 30 days from receipt of a letter on Sept. 28 to reconsider the consequences of terminating the lease, which would cause a suspension of the post office’s operations that could mean a 4-5 year wait to rebuild, or the local branch’s closure.

Brockert said the City Council voted unanimously during its Tuesday, Oct. 2, meeting to pursue rebuilding, subject to the condition that further input from residents was favorable and a list of building requirements from the Postal Service made the project feasible.

“It sounds like a go from what I’m hearing from you guys; you’re going to support us,” Brockert said near the end of the approximately one-hour meeting.

Nobody spoke out against the rebuilding proposal, and most discussion was based on residents’ questions about how to carry out rebuilding.

Brockert said the city is still waiting to hear on the requirements, including handicapped accessibility, from the Postal Service.

Residents formed a committee Monday that would organize volunteers to build the new structure over a weekend to hold down costs, once the city learns more from the Postal Service. The committee would also investigate ways to raise funds for building supplies.

Brockert said preliminary estimates of building costs range from about $20,000-$30,000. He said the city would have to borrow to build at that rate, but could likely find funds on hand for the approximately $5,000-$8,000 (for the cost of building materials) residents anticipated it would cost the city to rebuild using volunteer labor.

Fruitland city officials had recently renegotiated a new five-year lease with the Postal Service prior to the tornado, Brockert said. That lease would remain in effect if the city rebuilds.

Postal officials said at a meeting last month that the post office could not be closed unless its operations were suspended, due to termination of a lease because of a natural disaster, among other circumstances.

A letter from the Postal Service indicated it may be willing to pay for the improvements or pay a higher monthly rent if the new structure met certain building requirements that the city wants clarified.

Reporter contact information

Jennifer Meyer: 563-262-0525

jennifer.meyer@muscatinejournal.com