St. David postal patrons enter appeal stage in closure consideration

ST. DAVID - Postal patrons in St. David may know more about the future of postal service in their town sometime during the first two weeks of March once the deadline for appeals to the proposal to close the town's post office has passed.

"The postal service is just another company in trouble," said Susan Mills, manager of post office operations for ZIP codes beginning 044, 046, and 047.

The U.S.P.S. lost $10 billion last year according to Mills.

"Most businesses with that kind of loss wouldn't be in business," said Mills.

Mills visited St. David Jan. 25 to discuss the closure proposal and options with residents. The informational meeting was the first step in the closure process after the USPS placed St. David Post Office on a list for potential closures in July of 2011. Approximately 25 people attended the meeting at the St. David Parish.

Next, the USPS will place a notice in the St. David Post Office by the middle of next week calling for public input and containing instructions for appeal. It will remain for 60 days before the post office closes.

If just one person in the first thirty days of the posting writes an appeal, stressed Mills, then the proposed closure would automatically go into appeal status and the 60 days would turn into 120 days.

Any appeal should list specific reasons why the appellant(s) believes the post office should remain open, said Mills. A person must mail appeals to the address provided on the next notice in order for the appeal to be valid.

Mills, who lives in a town where a post office closed, said there are a few possible options. Even if the post office ultimately closes, St. David residents would keep their postal code.

If the post office closes, then residents could either choose to have the postal service deliver their mail to them at their home by installing a rural route delivery box, or they could purchase a post office box in either Madawaska or Grand Isle. Madawaska is a different class of post office, and therefore, their post office box rental rates are significantly higher than in St. David and Grand Isle. Grand Isle, however, is also on the list for consideration, though Mills said the status of their closure proposal is currently "on hold."

St. David might opt to have a branch office, which would function much the same as the current post office, but without a post master. Basically, the postmaster in Madawaska would be postmaster for both post offices and a postal employee would manage the branch. The option might involve a reduction in postal service hours.

A third option is a relatively new concept for the U.S.P.S. It's called a Village Post Office (VPO). A VPO provides limited services, and a local business houses and manages the VPO on a contract basis.

Even if people file appeals, there are no guarantees. Mills said that the proximity of post offices serving rural communities plays a role.

"The ones I've seen come off the chopping block have come off for two reasons," said Mills. "They were islands, or if you're asking customers to drive too far."

Mills says that it is only four miles from the St. David Post office to the Madawaska Post Office.

During the time leading up to the Wednesday evening meeting, the postal service collected comments from residents regarding the closure. Organizers compiled the comments to present before the postal rate commission. The postal rate commission is the board that oversees the postal service. Senator Susan Collins is a member of the commission, which will ultimately decide on the closure.

Mills said that the postal service has been considering many options to cut costs and remain in business, including moving to a five-day delivery schedule. Already Mills says they have consolidated regions and offices. She said management has been coming up with ideas to save money and cut costs for years.

Because tax dollars provide no support for the U.S.P.S., Mills said that all it relies on to pay for itself is what it makes from its products and service. In the past year the postal service has seen a 23-percent drop in mail volume while deliveries are up by over two million per year. Mills says the postal service struggles like other major companies in today's economy and must make tough decisions.

"If gas goes up one cent, it costs us $1 million a day," said Mills.

The St. David Post Office fell into two categories to find itself on the proposed closure list. It saw substantial declining revenues for the past four years and the time spent sorting mail, placing it in boxes, and working the counter was less than two hours per day. In St. David, the post office spent only 1.8 hours per day on those duties.

People in attendance at the informational meeting expressed concern over having to drive into Madawaska to conduct postal business. They cited long lines and limited parking as potential issues.

Shirley Campagna says she has made a habit of dropping all of her mailings for the business she manages at the St. David Post Office before she heads to her store in the morning. She would like to keep her routine intact.

Another individual said that he has a provider mail his prescriptions to them and appreciates the security of picking them up at a post office box rather than sitting outside in a mailbox where someone might steal them.

Al Beaulieu, who owns the building the USPS currently uses as the St. David Post Office, asked for clarification on the numbers organizers presented in the proposal. He said that his rent includes everything from plowing to utilities and that he thinks the numbers the postal service is using to determine declining revenues might be skewed.

One man asked, "If this is a business, then why isn't it run like one?"

Mills said that she would pass along all of the comments gathered to date as well as the record of the informational meeting for further review. In 30 days, the town will know if anyone has filed an appeal. If nobody files an appeal, then the residents will have to wait for the USPS to make a decision based on the information the postal service has already gathered from their patrons regarding the closure.

"One way or another, however this goes, we want to help you through this," said Mills.