The community of Hinkley is about to see the return of its post office, subject to a rather elaborate arrangement.
Hinkley’s population has been dwindling for years as consequence of the contamination of the local water supply that occurred during the 1950s and 1960s when Pacific Gas & Electric utilized chromium-6 as an anti-corrosive agent in the cooling towers for the pressurizing stations built along the route of its West Texas-to-San Francisco natural gas line. Water from those towers was disposed of in unlined trenches near Hinkley and the chromium-6, a highly toxic substance, has leached down into the water table as a result. Some local residents, concerned with the presence of chromium-6 in the environment, have sold or outright abandoned their property. Pacific Gas & Electric, which has paid large settlements as a consequence of the contamination of the property, for many years participated in efforts to redress the contamination as well as supply the community with bottled water trucked in from outside the area or outfitted homes in Hinkley with water filtration systems. More recently, the company has hit upon the strategy of simply purchasing the property of all of the remaining residents or businesses in the community and transforming the area into a ghost town so that the chromium-6 clean up effort, which could cost well in excess of $200 million, does not need to be completed.
The Hinkley Post Office, which had been at the same location since 1958, closed on March 20, 2015, due to the termination of the United States Postal Service lease upon the sale of the property to Pacific Gas and Electric. Rural delivery of mail has continued in the interim, but postal customers have to travel to the Barstow Post Office, 12 miles away, for other postal services.
A public community meeting was held on June 3, 2015 to discuss the proposed relocation of the Hinkley Post Office.
Hinkley is not an incorporated city but rather lies within County Service Area 70 W, which was originally formed by a resolution of the county board of supervisors on March 12, 1973 to provide fire protection services to the community of Hinkley. The board added recreation and park service powers to County Service Area 70 W on July 15, 1991, to allow for the operation of the Hinkley Community Center, in which the Hinkley Senior Citizens Club meets. The center was constructed with grant funding obtained through a Community Development Block Grant under the Housing and Urban Development Program. The center, located on approximately 2.5 acres of CSA 70 W-owned land at 35997 Mountain View Road in Hinkley. is approximately 3,180 square feet in size, and its construction was completed on March 27, 1996. It boasts two large meeting rooms, an office, commercial kitchen, restrooms and storage areas. The board approved Lease Agreement No. 96-137 with the senior citizens club on February 27, 1996. The center allows space for senior activities, community events, and also acts as an emergency shelter area for the community. A children’s playground was constructed at the location in February 2011, using grant funds from the California State Park’s Proposition 40 Roberti-Z’berg-Harris Block Grant Program and CDBG under the HUD Program.
Hinkley residents proposed to the county that the United States Postal Service be permitted to set up a post office in the building. The US Postal Service was amenable to that proposal if certain conditions were met.
After the the club requested CSA 70 W consider relocating the Hinkley Post Office to
the center, the USPS informed the community that the United States Postal Service would incur the cost of the construction of a new post office at the center, comprising approximately 200 post office boxes, one counter, a letter drop and a wicket door. The initial concept was that the Hinkely Senior Citizens Club would sublease the space to the United States Postal Service, but the USPS requires that the lease agreement impose on the leasor the liability to remove any contaminated soil or water on the premises not caused by the USPS that are found to exceed the applicable federal, state, or local action levels, including but not limited to any “hazardous/toxic materials or substances.” This provision is very broad and could include contamination caused by third-parties, such as groundwater contamination, and does include contamination not caused by CSA 70 W. The senior club would not have the wherewithal to make such a remediation.
Accordingly, the county’s real estate services division stepped in and terminated the previous lease with the seniors club and created a new lease which excised from its terms the square footage to be used by the Postal Service, creating a new five-year lease agreement with one five-year option with the club for the exclusive use of 2,498 square feet of office space, and the non-exclusive use of 297 square feet of common area space. The lease is for the period of June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2021 for total revenue in the amount of $30,600.
This week, the board of supervisors, acting as the governing body of County Service Area 70, Zone W, approved a five-year revenue lease agreement with one five-year option to extend the term with the United States Postal Service for the exclusive use of 385 square feet of office space and the non-exclusive use of 297 square feet of common area located at 35997 Mountain View Road in Hinkley, for the period of June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2021, for total revenue in the amount of $21,540.
The Postal Service will pay $4,308 each of the 12 month periods commencing next month and covering June 1, 2016 to May 31, 2017; June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018; June 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019; June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020; and June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021 for a total cost of $21,540.
The Hinkley Senior Citizens Club, Inc. will pay $5,400 to occupy its square footage at the center from June 1, 2016 to May 31, 2017; $6,000 to occupy it from June 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018; $6,000 to occupy it from June 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019; $6,600 to occupy it from June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020; and $6,600 to occupy it from June 1, 2020 until May 31, 2021, for a total of $30,600.
The county’s assumption of the liability with regard to contamination at the site was a formality that needed to be met so the Postal Service could move into the center. If a problem with contaminated water or soil crops up, the post office will be shut down.
“At this time, neither the county’s real estate services division nor the district have sufficient information from which to assess the potential scope of this liability,” county real estate services director Terry W. Thompson told the board of supervisors. “The USPS has agreed that in the instance where such contamination is identified, the district may terminate the lease.”
The USPS estimates the construction will take approximately 60 days. The community will be notified by the Postal Service when the new Hinkley Post Office is scheduled to open within the center.