The future of the Hedley Post Office will be the topic of a public meeting next Wednesday, July 20, and many folks are already planning to voice their concerns to postal officials.
Letters dated July 6, 2011, were sent to Hedley postal customers informing them of possible changes in the way they receive mail services and requesting their opinions of those changes. The letter said the US Postal Service would like to provide service in Hedley through rural route services coming from the Memphis Post Office.
Hedley residents are overwhelmingly opposed to any effort to shutter their post office, and many people, like Mary Ruth White, say they believe the USPS is misinformed about how much business goes through the local office.
“Some folks think they haven’t done enough research,” White said. “The school, for example, does a lot of business with them.”
Jedco Leather owner John Dickson agrees with White that the post office needs to consider how closure of the post office will affect local businesses.
“I ship all my goods exclusively through the post office,” Dickson said. “I send stuff to all 50 states, and there are other businesses in Hedley – people working from home – who also depend on the post office. A rural carrier can’t provide these services. Hedley needs this post office real bad.”
Pat White at Hedley Independent School District said she mails things every day, many of which require going to the post office.
“I have to send registered letters and big boxes, and I will have to drive to either Memphis or Clarendon during the day to do this,” Pat White said. “I think it will hurt our school and definitely hurt a lot of elderly people. Even if it was open half a day, it would be better than closing it.”
Residents also said they did not believe that their post office should be shut down if Estelline, Lakeview, Quail, and other smaller post offices remain open.
Hedley folks also bristled at the idea of the USPS recommending they drive to Lakeview for retail postal services. The letter claimed Lakeview is 11.0 miles away, but to drive from Hedley to Lakeview is over 20 miles.
“Apparently, they don’t know where Lakeview is,” Dickson said.
USPS spokesman Sam Bolen said the service understands there was an error in the letter and said it should have suggested Memphis or Clarendon instead of Memphis or Lakeview.
“We are just currently gathering data for an initial proposal,” Bolen said, noting that comments from next Wednesday’s meeting will be used to formulate when considering the post office’s fate. He said the Hedley Post Office currently has 280 boxes but only about half of them are rented.
Bolen said, in addition to rural carrier service, the USPS would consider expanded access through a local store or some kind of central delivery point as possible alternatives to maintaining the local post office.
According to a USPS press release, the Postal Service lost $8.5 billion in fiscal year 2010 (Oct. 1, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2010) – that equates to losing more than $23 million every single day of the year. Mail volume has declined by 43.1 billion pieces in the past five years – from an all-time high of 213 billion in 2006 to 170 billion in 2010. The Postal Service is doing everything possible to reduce costs and save money – this will involve consolidating operations wherever possible.
The Hedley community meeting will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at the Hedley Baptist Fellowship Hall, located at 310 N Main. Customers will have an opportunity to meet with a Postal Service representative to discuss alternatives.
Written comments will be accepted through July 25, 2011, and may be mailed to: Consumer Affairs Manager, USPS Fort Worth District, 4600 Mark IV Parkway, Fort Worth, TX 76161-9631.
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