What will become of the Smyrna PO?
By Kevin Doonan
Sun Staff Writer
kdoonan@evesun.com
SMYRNA – A meeting discussing the future of the Smyrna Post Office had to be relocated from its original venue in the Post Office to the Town Hall due to the overwhelming turnout Wednesday. Even with the change in venue, the town hall was jam-packed as over 60 people attended the 3:30 p.m. meeting. Post Office Supervisor for the CNY East District Michelle Jewell addressed those assembled as a representative from the United States Post Office Review Coordinator’s office.
“I have been to about 30 or so of these meetings, and this is the first time we have ever had to move because of the volume of people,” said Jewell.
The U.S. Post Office has been losing money due to a shrinking demand for its services and an overdeveloped infrastructure, said Jewell. Subsequently, the U.S. Post Office has decided to make cuts to its network to reduce overhead expenditures in an effort to save $1.2 billion by next month. Originally, part of that plan was to shut down many post offices such as the one in Smyrna, she said. After deliberations in Congress though, it has been decided to instead consolidate the U.S. Post Office’s operations and to keep many rural post offices open, she continued.
Four options are being considered by the Post Office Review Coordinator’s office for towns like Smyrna, targeted for consolidation. The first option is to keep the post office open and reduce the hours the retail window is open. The second option is close the post office and to move it into a local business. The third option is to shut down the post office completely and provide P.O. Box services at another location. The fourth option involves closing the post office and placing all of the mail into a bin on the street.
The post office sent out surveys to individuals with a Smyrna zip code, asking them which of the four options they would prefer. The post office received 152 surveys back and 90 percent indicated a preference towards keeping the Smyrna Post Office open with reduced retail window hours, said Jewell. Therefore, “The post office will remain open unless there is a strong community preference towards one of the other four options,” she said.
Under the proposal, the post office would still open at 8 a.m. on week days and there would be no change to the delivery routes, but the retail window in the post office, where people can purchase stamps, would close at noon. The proposal would also allow people to access their P.O. Boxes in the post office during the same times as they do now, with the delivery route drivers locking up the office at the current closing time.
Many of the assembled citizens voiced outrage that none of the options the United States Post Office Review Coordinator’s office is considering represents their preference towards keeping the Smyrna Post Office running the way it currently is. Concern was also expressed that people who filled out the survey and checked the option ‘other’ were ignored. Other residents vocalized their belief that the Smyrna Post Office is profitable and that it is foolish to trim the retail window hours. A few of the assembled people also expressed the belief that the meeting was in reality just an act of appeasement on the part of the post office and that a decision had already been reached.
“We had a big crowd of at least 68 people, who asked smart questions and offered common sense solutions for keeping a full-time post office in our village,” said Town Supervisor Michael Khoury. “It shows that the community is best equipped to solve the local issues that affect us and we hope the people in Washington are listening.”
Jewell will now have seven days to present the feedback she received during the meeting to her supervisors to decide which of the four options to choose. Once the United States Post Office Review Coordinator’s office has reached its decision, a notice will be posted in the Smyrna Post Office 30 days prior to the enactment of any change.
Sun Staff Writer
kdoonan@evesun.com
SMYRNA – A meeting discussing the future of the Smyrna Post Office had to be relocated from its original venue in the Post Office to the Town Hall due to the overwhelming turnout Wednesday. Even with the change in venue, the town hall was jam-packed as over 60 people attended the 3:30 p.m. meeting. Post Office Supervisor for the CNY East District Michelle Jewell addressed those assembled as a representative from the United States Post Office Review Coordinator’s office.
“I have been to about 30 or so of these meetings, and this is the first time we have ever had to move because of the volume of people,” said Jewell.
The U.S. Post Office has been losing money due to a shrinking demand for its services and an overdeveloped infrastructure, said Jewell. Subsequently, the U.S. Post Office has decided to make cuts to its network to reduce overhead expenditures in an effort to save $1.2 billion by next month. Originally, part of that plan was to shut down many post offices such as the one in Smyrna, she said. After deliberations in Congress though, it has been decided to instead consolidate the U.S. Post Office’s operations and to keep many rural post offices open, she continued.
Four options are being considered by the Post Office Review Coordinator’s office for towns like Smyrna, targeted for consolidation. The first option is to keep the post office open and reduce the hours the retail window is open. The second option is close the post office and to move it into a local business. The third option is to shut down the post office completely and provide P.O. Box services at another location. The fourth option involves closing the post office and placing all of the mail into a bin on the street.
The post office sent out surveys to individuals with a Smyrna zip code, asking them which of the four options they would prefer. The post office received 152 surveys back and 90 percent indicated a preference towards keeping the Smyrna Post Office open with reduced retail window hours, said Jewell. Therefore, “The post office will remain open unless there is a strong community preference towards one of the other four options,” she said.
Under the proposal, the post office would still open at 8 a.m. on week days and there would be no change to the delivery routes, but the retail window in the post office, where people can purchase stamps, would close at noon. The proposal would also allow people to access their P.O. Boxes in the post office during the same times as they do now, with the delivery route drivers locking up the office at the current closing time.
Many of the assembled citizens voiced outrage that none of the options the United States Post Office Review Coordinator’s office is considering represents their preference towards keeping the Smyrna Post Office running the way it currently is. Concern was also expressed that people who filled out the survey and checked the option ‘other’ were ignored. Other residents vocalized their belief that the Smyrna Post Office is profitable and that it is foolish to trim the retail window hours. A few of the assembled people also expressed the belief that the meeting was in reality just an act of appeasement on the part of the post office and that a decision had already been reached.
“We had a big crowd of at least 68 people, who asked smart questions and offered common sense solutions for keeping a full-time post office in our village,” said Town Supervisor Michael Khoury. “It shows that the community is best equipped to solve the local issues that affect us and we hope the people in Washington are listening.”
Jewell will now have seven days to present the feedback she received during the meeting to her supervisors to decide which of the four options to choose. Once the United States Post Office Review Coordinator’s office has reached its decision, a notice will be posted in the Smyrna Post Office 30 days prior to the enactment of any change.
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