The residents of Glade Park were probably pleased to hear from Grand Junction Postmaster Daniel Reyes that the U.S. Postal Service plans to continue providing mail delivery at a central location on Glade Park well into the future.

It’s too bad that the federal entity has left it to Mesa County to acquire a building for the Glade Park Post Office.

Mesa County isn’t exactly going into the mail business, but it is considering the purchase of a small building — that would eventually be resold to Glade Park residents — that would house mailboxes for that community.

That is the alternative plan formulated by the commissioners when it became clear the U.S. Postal Service isn’t going to construct a new building for the Glade Park Post Office. The plan must still be approved by Glade Park residents.

The commissioners say they were told by a Postal Service worker in this area — who no longer works here — that the agency was planning to construct a new building to replace the temporary trailer that has housed mailboxes for a number of years. It was that word from the Postal Service that prompted the commissioners to acquire land and prep it for construction of a small building, Commissioner Craig Meis said.

Delivery of Glade Park mail became an issue several years ago, when the Postal Service announced it would no longer have a contract with the Glade Park Store to house residents’ post office boxes.

The trailer has served as a temporary home for the Glade Park mailboxes the past couple of years. But area residents have made it clear they want the trailer removed and a permanent mail solution developed.

Reyes said the Postal Service has no money to build or purchase new buildings. And installing the clusters of outdoor mailboxes that are seen in many subdivisions would actually be more expensive than purchasing a small, preconstructed building to house the boxes, Meis said.

We understand that the Postal Service is facing difficult financial conditions, largely because people and businesses are turning more and more to the Internet for communications that used to occur with snail mail. But Mesa County’s finances are also pinched. Yet the commissioners are willing to find a way to spend a little money to ensure that mail service continues on Glade Park. That should be a Postal Service function.