The U.S. Postal Service continues to search for a location to build a new post office building to consolidate both the Oakville branch post office and Watertown branch post office into one main location.

On Sunday, March 16 there was an advertisement placed in a local daily newspaper looking for potential locations for the new Post Office. The advertisement, which town officials were not informed about prior to its placement, was listed in hopes of finding prospects for a new location.

According to U.S. Postal Service Public Affairs Specialist Maureen Marion, the ad was placed as an open solicitation and leaves it open to the community to offer potential locations. Parking, access, floor space and size are all areas that the postal service is looking to upgrade.

The deadline for proposals was April 2. From there, the Postal Service would take between 15 and 30 days to review the proposals.

The new building could either be bought or leased. The process has been a slow one, as the Postal Service needs to weigh a variety of factors before deciding on a new permanent location. The new building needs to work out economically and be size-appropriate to the needs of the community.

"We are looking for the best long term deal," said Ms. Marion. "We are building infrastructure for the long term."

After the proposals are reviewed, they will be presented to the Town Council and other community leaders. They will then take the best choices and go out to the community and look for comments and feedback from residents, neighbors and business leaders.

"We know the community is anxious to see results, but we are committed to finding the best results and resolution," said Ms. Marion. "The process can't be rushed because the location will be for a long time."