06039 becomes branch of 06068

SALISBURY — It was a bit of an anticlimax when Joseph Mazzola, acting director of postal operations for the region serving ZIP codes beginning with 060, told the crowd at Salisbury Town Hall on Thursday, April 21, that the Lakeville post office was not going to be closed.The Postal Service had announced a few weeks ago that it might shutter the stately brick edifice. Postal patrons had received surveys in the mail asking how they would feel about the change. The meeting Thursday had been announced as a chance for town residents to express their opinions. The consensus was that those opinions would be, for the most part, negative. Mazzola rose before the overflow crowd in the upstairs meeting room and said, “You were expecting me to stand here and make excuses for why we’re going to close the Lakeville post office.”He paused for effect, and continued.“We are not going to close the Lakeville post office.”The crowd erupted in applause.Mazzola explained that the possible closing of the Lake-ville post office was based on a preliminary assessment of post offices that do not have a postmaster in place.After receiving the surveys from Lakeville residents, postal officials made the decision to make Lakeville a branch of the Salisbury post office, which is an administrative move and will not, he promised, affect service in any way.The audience wasn’t going to let the officials get away easily. Among the questions and comments were:• How do we know you won’t change your mind in the future? (Answer: You don’t, but this is how it is now.)• Why does the local mail have to go to Hartford? (Answer: Because the Postal Service is trying to get as much mail into an automated system as possible.)• How much does it cost to rent the Salisbury post office? (Answer: Mazzola didn’t know. The Postal Service owns the Lakeville post office but leases the Salisbury office.)• Were the officials aware that citizens, on their own, did the landscaping work at the Lake-ville post office? (Answer:They weren’t, but it’s very nice and we thank you.)And finally, one lady tossed Mazzola a softball: “How can we support the post office?”Buy stamps, use the postal service for packages, and so on, Mazzola replied, adding, “I tell people that every time they hit the ‘send’ button, they should tear up a stamp.”

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