The U.S. Postal Service will not close any post offices in Lincoln County; however, the service will likely reduce hours at 14 offices from eight per day to six or four.
The post offices in Alna, Bremen, Bristol Mills, Chamberlain, Coopers Mills, Dresden, Monhegan, Round Pond, South Bristol, Southport, Trevett, Walpole, West Boothbay Harbor and Whitefield all appear on a 260-page list of affected locations.
The Alna, Chamberlain, Coopers Mills, Monhegan, South Bristol, Trevett, Walpole and West Boothbay Harbor offices would see decreases from eight to four hours of retail window service per day.
The Bremen, Bristol Mills, Dresden, Round Pond, Southport and Whitefield post offices would be open six hours per day.
The document “is a preliminary list that requires additional review, analysis, and verification, and is subject to change,” according to the Postal Service.
The strategy “could keep the nation’s smallest Post Offices open for business, while providing a framework to achieve significant cost savings as part of the plan to return the organization to financial stability,” according to a Postal Service press release.
“Access to the retail lobby and to PO Boxes would remain unchanged, and the town’s ZIP Code and community identity would be retained,” according to the press release.
“Meeting the needs of postal customers is, and will always be, a top priority. We continue to balance that by better aligning service options with customer demand and reducing the cost to serve,” Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said in the press release. “With that said, we’ve listened to our customers in rural America and we’ve heard them loud and clear – they want to keep their Post Office open.
“We believe today’s announcement will serve our customers’ needs and allow us to achieve real savings to help the Postal Service return to long-term financial stability.”
“The new strategy would be implemented over a two-year, multi-phased approach and would not be completed until September 2014,” according to the press release. “Once implementation is completed, the Postal Service estimates savings of [$500 million] annually.”
The release appears to leave the door open for possible future closures at the choice of a community.
“The Post Offices in rural America will remain open unless a community has a strong preference for one of the other options,” Postal Service Chief Operating Officer Megan Brennan said in the press release. “We will not close any of these rural Post Offices without having provided a viable solution.”
The “other options” include expanded delivery service, service from a nearby post office or a “village” post office at a local business.
The press release cites a February survey that showed 54 percent of rural customers prefer a reduction in hours to the alternatives.
A November 2011 community meeting about a proposal to close the Chamberlain post office brought out almost 20 residents passionate about the action’s potential negative impact on the tiny village along Rt. 32 in Bristol.
The Postal Service will offer a voluntary early retirement incentive to “non-executive” postmasters as part of the strategy.
A series of community meetings “to review options in greater detail” will take place in the future, according to the press release.
