In the realm of mail service, Syracuse is without an identity.

Their post office: a blue drop box near city hall. Dents and rust grace the top, while half a logo for the U.S. Postal Service is attached to the front panel.

Val Smith, a recent transplant to Syracuse, says by 5 or 6 p.m., the box is "full and running over.

"This town is growing rapidly and is one of the fastest— if not the fastest — growing community in the state of Utah, approaching 20,000 people," he said. "It doesn't have a post office and every little dink town in Utah has one."

To mail packages, Smith and other residents must travel to Clearfield, where an office is located near the entrance to the Freeport Center — a manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facility on 645 acres.

City officials have been in contact with officials from the U.S. Postal Service for several years. Land to build a post office has been offered, but rejected.

"That's not one that's in the control of the city," said City Manager Mike Moyes. "The U.S. Postal Service has their own agenda and they don't deviate much from that."

Officials with the postal service say their reasoning is simple: cost and budget constraints.

While a three-year freeze on capital development ended last year, growth in Syracuse has yet to reach a point where a new building would be warranted, said L.T. Johnson, a facility requirements specialist with the Western Facilities Service Office in Denver.

Also, with a new focus on alternative mailing and retail services, "brick and mortar has become a thing of the past," he said.

Instead of building, expansion is the first thing the postal service looks at, said Johnson. In the coming years, the Freeport Center office will likely receive an addition.

Syracuse officials have also been asked to look at what's called a Contract Postal Unit (CPU). The goal is to contract with a local business that will sell packaging and offer about 95 percent of the services of a regular post office, said Johnson.

Postal money orders and certified international mailings would still need to be done at a regular post office.

"We really are serious about meeting retail needs," said Johnson. "Customers are important to us. That's where revenue comes from and we want to do our best to support them. We meet with community leaders to discuss alternatives and options, but the best way to fulfill needs doesn't always come in a traditional form."

The postal service is also looking to the Internet to save money, with their "click and ship" program.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com