New city ZIP code will be ready for use by June

Published 12:26 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008

By Dennis Box

The Courier-Herald

A ZIP code - finally.

The Bonney Lake and Lake Tapps area has moved up a notch on the identity ladder and has been issued a ZIP code by the United States Postal Service headquarters in Washington D.C.

The new number will be 98391, but postal officials warn residents to use the old ZIP code number, 98390, until June 1 or their mail may not be properly delivered.

"The new number is not in the database yet," said Guy Bennett, manager of address management systems in Seattle for the United States Postal Service. "It will be in all the systems by June 1, but it becomes effective July 1."

Postal headquarters issued the ZIP code in January, Bennett said.

"I'm thrilled," said Louisa Smith, a Bonney Lake area resident. "We have been working on this since 1989. The Chamber (of Commerce) held an economic development seminar with Puget Power in 1989. They said we should start working for a ZIP code to give our city an identity. The chamber jumped right on that. At one point in 1992 or '93 we almost had it. I'm ecstatic."

Bennett said expansion was the reason for the new number.

"This was done to accommodate the growth in Bonney Lake," Bennett said. "We've seen tremendous change in the area."

Postal officials said the number will begin at the Bonney Lake city limits coming up Elhi Hill. A map specifying the exact area for the new number will be released to the public by mid-May.

Bennett said a letter will be sent to residents explaining the change.

"Every time I order something on-line they send it to the Sumner post office," Bonney Lake resident Jamie Rieken said. "I think Bonney Lake deserves a spot on the map."

Beside a ZIP code change, the postal service is considering a new post office in Bonney Lake.

"As Bonney Lake grows we will likely need a larger post office," Bennett said. "Probably in about five years."

Bonney Lake's current post office is at 18429 Sumner-Buckley Highway East.

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.