Westfield, Perham post offices targeted for closure
THE WESTFIELD POST OFFICE, along with 33 others in the state including Perham, may close as the U.S. Postal Service looks for ways to cut costs.
Last Tuesday, the Postal Service released a list of nearly 3,700 post offices nationwide it will consider for closure, as well as introduced a retail-replacement option for affected communities around the country.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
Post offices in Westfield and Perham may close as the U.S. Postal Service looks for ways to cut costs.
Last Tuesday, the Postal Service released a list of nearly 3,700 post offices nationwide — 34 in Maine — it will consider for closure, as well as introduced a retail-replacement option for affected communities around the country.
“Today, more than 35 percent of the Postal Service’s retail revenue comes from expanded access locations such as grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, retail chains, self-service kiosks, ATMs and usps.com, open 24/7,” said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. “Our customers’ habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business.”
For communities currently without a postal retail office and for communities affected by these retail optimization efforts, the Postal Service introduced the Village Post Office as a potential replacement option. Village Post Offices would be operated by local businesses, such as pharmacies, grocery stores and other appropriate retailers, and would offer popular postal products and services such as stamps and flat-rate packaging.
“By working with third-party retailers, we’re creating easier, more convenient access to our products and services when and where our customers want them,” Donahoe said. “The Village Post Office will offer another way for us to meet our customers’ needs.”
With 32,000 postal retail offices and more than 70,000 third-party retailers — Approved Postal Providers — selling postage stamps and providing expanded access to other postal products and services, customers today have about 100,000 locations across the nation where they can do business with the Postal Service.
“The Postal Service of the future will be smaller, leaner and more competitive,” said Donahoe, “and it will continue to drive commerce, serve communities and deliver value.”
Carolee Hallett, administrative assistant for the town of Westfield, said closing the post office would be “very devastating.”
“We know everybody’s got to make cuts, but if our citizens started going to either Presque Isle or Mars Hill to do their postal business, it’s going to take them out of town and eventually the town will end up just like the schools,” she said, “… they’ll whittle away at us. If you’ve got to go to Mars Hill or Presque Isle to do that business, who’s to say they won’t move your town business to another town office, as well.
“I can’t help but reflect back to when Loring Air Force Base was put on a list. At first they were put on the list because officials were ‘just looking,’” said Hallett, “but the second time they looked, that was the end of Loring. I shudder to think what would happen. The post office is our only link to the outside world; we don’t have anything else in town except our post office and town office.”
Hallett, who has been told the study will take until next spring to complete, said the U.S. Postal Service’s plan for Village Post Offices won’t work in the small community of around 500 people.
“They said that if they closed your post office that they would look at putting it in a garage or grocery store. Come look at our town; we don’t have either one,” she said. “They need to leave our link.”
Another problem, Hallett points out, is that mailboxes don’t always survive northern Maine winters.
“If we lose our post office, the town’s elderly will end up having rural route delivery. One of the biggest problems in Aroostook County and other places that have winters like we do is the problem of keeping the mailbox on the post,” she said. “They get hit with the plows and whatnot. That’s another drawback for the people that would be forced to lose their post office in town.
“I would rather see the Postal Service shut the post office down on Saturday and maybe on Wednesday to keep the costs down,” said Hallett, “than shut it down completely.”
Sue McPherson, a Westfield resident, said the proposed closures will cause more harm than good.
“Westfield is a town of primarily seniors and low-income residents. Not having a post office creates a hardship for those who do not drive and depend on others to take them for errands including a visit to the post office to get their mail,” she said. “Going to the post office in a small village is a social event. Public notices are posted in the post office for residents to know what’s happening in the community and when.
“Purchasing stamps, money orders, sending packages … all these services are not going to be provided by a route driver,” said McPherson. “Retirees are going to be concerned about their monthly checks coming, and not everyone has electronic deposit so there’s a security issue, as well.”
Maine legislators are not pleased with the plan to close several state post offices.
“The fact is, maintaining our nation’s rural post offices costs the Postal Service less than 1 percent of its total budget and is not the cause of its financial crisis,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). “While there are some areas where postal services could be consolidated or moved into a nearby retail store to ensure continued access, this simply is not an option in many rural and remote areas.
“It is essential that the Postal Service solicit local input before deciding to close or consolidate a post office, and it must weigh the potential impact of any decision on the community, as well as on its legal obligation to provide universal service,” she said.
In a letter to Donahoe sent last Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) said that while he recognizes that reducing costs and streamlining services is a valid goal of the USPS, “I don’t believe rural communities in Maine and throughout the country should bear the brunt of these changes.”
“Criteria for closure studies now include proximity to other retail units, as well as operating costs compared to revenue formulas. These variables, however, disadvantage rural communities,” he said. “In northern Maine, for example, retail units and post offices may be clustered near each other in small towns, but stores close down frequently, making that variable too unreliable.
“In addition, rural post offices simply cannot generate high revenues like those in urban centers,” said Michaud. “Maine has 260 small offices, all of which are relied upon by their surrounding communities for their services. If these criteria are used to determine which post offices are studied for closure, I believe a disproportionate number of post offices will close their doors in Maine’s rural communities.”
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and post office boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
For the list of offices being studied and additional
information, log onto http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/expandedaccess/welcome.htm.
