Chamberlain residents gave U.S. Postal Service officials plenty of feedback concerning the agency’s proposal to close the local post office at a Nov. 21 community input meeting.
Jim McCartney, post office review coordinator for the Portland district, explained the proposal to the nearly 20 residents in attendance.
According to McCartney and the proposal, the Chamberlain office serves 96 customers in the height of summer, when the largely seasonal community reaches its peak. Eighty customers collect their mail at the post office, while 16 receive roadside delivery.
The Postal Service estimates the closure of the Chamberlain office would save more than $280,000 over a 10-year period.
The Postal Service examines several criteria in the closure process, including alternate access points and daily workload, McCartney said.
For Chamberlain residents, the alternate access point is the New Harbor office, 2.2 miles away. The daily workload at the Chamberlain office, including the handling of incoming mail and transactions, like stamp sales, amounts to 1.9 hours, McCartney said, short of the two-hour minimum.
The Postal Service proposal would move post office boxes to the New Harbor office. The customers would retain the same number, community name and zip code, unless they choose to switch to roadside delivery.
The recent woes of the Postal Service are well documented, but McCartney reviewed some, such as a 25 percent drop in mail volume and the loss of nearly 300,000 employees in the last 3-4 years.
Round Pond Postmaster Steve Culpovich attended the meeting and offered customers the option to receive mail from his office. The Round Pond office, 4.4 miles away, has available boxes and delivers as far south as the Chamberlain Post Office, he said.
“We’re open longer, we’re open earlier on Saturday,” Culpovich said, and the office gladly makes accommodations for handicapped customers.
Chamberlain residents switching to the Round Pond Post Office would have to change to a Round Pond address, however, Culpovich said.
The residents in attendance asked a variety of questions, but opposition to the closure largely focused on the post office’s role as a community meeting place.
“You’re eliminating the village of Chamberlain,” Bob Young said. “Because I meet so many of my neighbors at the post office, to me that was part of being in the community and that’s going to go away.”
“The post office is the center of Chamberlain. It is Chamberlain,” Young said.
“It is the glue that holds us all together,” Anne Buell said.
The residents also expressed concern about the future of the office’s staff – Officer in Charge Rachael Fossett and Postmaster Relief Judy Speck. The residents gave the staff, both present, an enthusiastic round of applause and offered testimony to the quality of their work.
The Postal Service doesn’t guarantee work for what it classifies as non-career employees, McCartney explained.
Kathleen Walker, acting manager of post office relations, offered a more upbeat prognosis. “PMRs are a hot commodity,” she said. “If we can use them anywhere, we certainly will.”
The Postal Service leases the Chamberlain building from Dana Small at a cost of approximately $6500 per year. In response to a question from a resident, McCartney said the service would attempt to end its lease if it closes the office.
If the lease doesn’t have a termination clause, the Postal Service real estate department will attempt to negotiate a buyout. If this, too, fails, “we may end up paying for the building for 2-3 years” until the lease runs out in 2014, McCartney said.
In any case, the vast majority of savings the Postal Service would realize – about 85 percent – result from the elimination of “employee-related” costs, like salary and benefits.
The meeting was part of a 60-day proposal and public notification period. The period, which ends Dec. 23, also includes the distribution of a questionnaire, which about 50 percent of Chamberlain customers, including seasonal residents, have returned, McCartney said.
At the end of the 60 days, the Portland district will make a recommendation to Postal Service headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The national headquarters will make a decision within 1-2 weeks, spokesman Tom Rizzo said. If the Postal Service decides to close the Chamberlain office, it would post its decision at the office, which would close 60 days after the posting.
Chamberlain residents would have 30 days from the date of posting to appeal the decision to the Postal Regulatory Commission, which would have 120 days to rule on the appeal.
