Postal Preservation

Published 6:00 pm Thursday, September 1, 2011

The citizens of McCall Creek want the U.S. Postal Service toknow one thing: They want to keep their post office.

“If we let everything that is part of our place slip away, thenslowly but surely we slip away,” said Dennis Calcote, a formermember of Franklin County’s board of supervisors.

Calcote and other McCall Creek residents gathered at the McCallCreek Community Center Wednesday night to express their concernsabout the possible closure of their local post office.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

In July, the U.S. Postal Service released a list of 3,700 postoffices nationwide that could potentially be closed. Mississippihad 61 post offices on the list.

Locally, post offices in McCall Creek, in Franklin County, andUnion Church, in Jefferson County, appeared on the list. A similarmeeting for Union Church residents will be held Thursday at 7:30p.m. at the Union Church Fire Station.

Pamela Lowery, manager for post office operations Mississippidistrict, explained that the choice of potential closings was madebased on offices that have seen a dramatic decline in business atthe physical office.

Lowery pointed out that of the approximately 74 post officeboxes available at the McCall Creek post office, only 23 arerented.

“That is a very low number,” Lowery said.

However, residents cited the relatively long distances to thenearest post offices as their major concern.

“It’s 14 miles out to the nearest post office,” said SharonWooters. “You can’t even get a pizza delivered where we are.”

Most comments offered at Wednesday’s meeting echoed Wooters’statements, explaining that the nearest post offices are inBrookhaven or Meadville.

Hazle Price said McCall Creek should have more area residents onits route, which she thinks would boost its business.

“I live three miles from the McCall Creek post office but getmail out of Meadville,” she said.

Price also pointed out that when the Lucien post office closed,everyone on its delivery route was shifted to Brookhaven ratherthan McCall Creek.

Postal Service officials, including Lowery, were presentWednesday night to record residents’ concerns and explain theprocess the Postal Service is undertaking.

Lowery explained that no decisions have been made yet aboutwhich post offices will be closed. She could not offer a definitivetime frame on when a decision could be reached, but said four tosix months could be a good estimate.

She also explained why the Postal Service felt it necessary toconsider closing some post offices.

“We are in pretty dire straits,” she said.

Lowery pointed to changes in communication as the cause ofcurrent problems.

“You probably used to get six, eight letters when you went toyour mail box. I know I did,” Lowery said to those at the meeting.”E-mail and the Internet have changed all that.”

According to Lowery, the Postal Service lost $8.5 billion in2010 and is projected to lose another $8 billion this year.

Lowery said that for services offered by rural delivery carriersshould largely alleviate any hardship caused post officeclosures.

“Rural carriers are a post office on wheels,” Lowery said. “Manypeople don’t realize it, though.”

Lowery explained that almost anything that can be done in aphysical office can be done from home through a carrier. Thatincludes mailing packages, buying money orders and sendingcertified mail.

Such services are only offered on rural routes. City carriersare not allowed to conduct those kinds of transactions.

“The Postal Service realizes the inconvenience rural residentscan be under,” Lowery said. “We try to accommodate that when wecan.”