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The United States Postal Service seems to be trying to restore mail service to the little communities of Gibson, Harford and Brooklyn, three villages in a row East to West through the center of the county that have all recently lost local retail service and access to boxes. In Gibson, the house that previously hosted the post office was sold and the new owner wasn’t interested; now the owner has decided that the cluster boxes and collection box posted on his front lawn must also go. In Harford, the tiny bandbox post office had to close when the owner’s property when up for sheriff’s sale and he declared bankruptcy.

Two representatives of the Postal Service, Richard Hancock, a “new-space project manager” with USPS Facilities in North Carolina, and Lorraine R. Pfaff from USPS Operations Support in Harrisburg, appeared at a meeting at the firehall in Harford on the evening of November 18th – following a similar meeting in Brooklyn – to discuss what comes next.

Mr. Hancock started off by assuring the assembled 30 or so interested observers that the Harford “project ‘in concept’ is approved.” That is, he was there because USPS management has decided to go ahead and try to restore local service in the village. He said that the Postal Service “would not have closed [these] post offices” except for these special conditions. He also said that the Postal Service was not presently considering “combining” small post offices.

He was there to inform, and to ask residents to submit proposals – in writing – about properties that might be available for siting a new post office. To begin with, proposals should list:

Who are you?
What do you have (property, building)?
What are you trying to achieve?

He encouraged his hearers to contact him by phone or e-mail with ideas and/or questions. Contact information should be available at your local post office (if you have one), or possibly through the township office.

Always with the underlying assumption that the Postal Service is a huge bureaucracy, with “rules,” Mr. Hancock said that during the first 30 days or so he would gather initial proposals. Another 45 days or so would be used to analyze and examine the proposals in more detail, after which a recommendation would be sent to upper management. He thought that the entire process could result in opening a new post office in as little as 6 months.

The Postal Service wants a new facility to meet 2016 specifications, particularly for safety and security, have 4-5 parking spaces, and be handicapped accessible. They would need indoor space of 500-800 square feet. Self-contained “pre-constructed” structures could be placed on a site of about 15,000 square feet. Electrical power would be necessary, but while water and sewer would be preferable, the units could be self-contained. A pre-existing structure might also be preferable, depending on how much construction/renovation might be required. Since there is “limited commercial property” available in these villages, most of the discussion focused around the pre-built type of facility.

Many questions centered more around the operation of any new post office that might be established. Ms. Pfaff said that Harford boxholders would retain their current box numbers (now being maintained in Kingsley – as Harford boxes). In Gibson, however, since there are only 5-6 remaining boxholders without such service, the entire process might be different. There are thought to be about 60 addresses with Harford box numbers. Ms. Pfaff reminded everyone that the Postal Service guarantees free delivery; virtually all locations have delivery available at the property. However, for those who prefer to use a box in a post office, there is always a rental charge. Retail service hours in any new post offices are expected to be the same as at the old locations. They expect to be able to provide “extended lobby hours” for access to the boxes using electronically timed locks.

Would there be a collection box in Gibson again? Ms. Pfaff said that would depend on finding a suitable available spot to put one of the familiar dark-blue bins.

There was some confusion about how mail is actually sorted and delivered. Ms. Pfaff explained that the Montrose post office sorts all mail addressed to Harford, Kingsley, Brooklyn and Gibson. She encouraged people who experience problems with excessively delayed delivery to contact Jessica, in Montrose.

Ms. Pfaff said that “local” mail (to addresses though the local post office) is still processed through automated centers. She said that the Local drops still seen in some post offices should have been removed some time ago. She explained that the automated centers have technology that can sniff out dangerous materials. If a patron still wants local delivery, it should be handed to a counter clerk in person, for hand stamping.

In the end, Mr. Hancock said that the process of siting a new post office depends on local residents coming forward to offer property for lease. (The Postal Service doesn’t seem interested in purchasing property in these cases.) Yet, as he said, “I’m being purposely vague” at this point in the process. He refused to speak to a question about how much the Postal Service might pay in rent. That would all “depend” on a large number of factors and would probably come out of negotiations once a recommendation was made to higher Postal Service management.

He did indicate that, once some decisions have been made, another meeting or two might be nice, just to keep the citizens informed. Stay tuned.