Snowmass Post Office cancels asbestos removal construction ahead of election

Signs in the Snowmass Post Office indicate that a previously planned closure of the building for asbestos removal construction starting on Oct. 24, 11 days before the election, has been postponed until “next year.”

“The Snowmass Town Clerk notified us that there are now signs in the Snowmass Post Office that say that they are postponing (the construction),” Pitkin County Clerk and Recorder Ingrid Grueter said. 

The construction, which was originally planned for the summer, was pushed back because of construction delays until this month. It would have lasted between five and seven days. 

After Grueter reached out to the Snowmass Post Office last Thursday, Oct. 16, to flag a concern about how this closure might cause interruptions to the upcoming Nov. 4 election ballot delivery, the Post Office decided to delay the construction. 

“(The construction) just so happened to be during the election cycle, so we decided, that’s probably not the best time,” James Boxrud, spokesperson for the United States Postal Service, said. “We spoke with the contractors and got them to postpone until the spring.” 

Ballots were expected to arrive between Oct. 15 and 17, but have arrived late in the past, which could have potentially left some voters without a mail-in ballot. In anticipation of this issue, the county put out an announcement earlier this month detailing alternative ways Snowmass residents can vote.

Those voters could have requested replacement ballots from the county or voted in person. Some Town of Snowmass Village residents, however, have already begun receiving their ballots — Snowmass Mayor Alyssa Shenk said she had the ballots in the mail for her household on Friday.

According to Boxrud, the post office is hoping that the spring closure for asbestos remediation will result in the least impact to mail delivery because it occurs between the winter and summer high seasons for the town. However, the exact dates of the closure are not yet available and will depend on the availability of contractors in the area.