Residents tell PO what they want

CORNWALL — The sorting room of the West Cornwall Post Office was the venue of a public meeting Feb. 21 to discuss plans to reduce weekday window service from eight to six hours.Ted Goonan, senior post office operations manager for the Connecticut Valley District, said the trade-offs will be 24-hour access to postal boxes and keeping open all three Cornwall offices, which are located within 4 square miles of each other.Goonan also said that the cuts, including a plan to eliminate Saturday delivery nationwide beginning in August, are revenue driven, and may not remain in place if things improve financially for the United States Postal Service (USPS).Hours of operation are being cut at 13,000 post offices across the nation as the USPS attempts to climb out of the red. On Jan. 27, prices for all postage increased, including a penny increase to 46 cents for a first-class letter.About 20 people, including members of the Board of Selectmen and property owners from outside of the West Cornwall ZIP code, came for what was publicized as a means of gathering input about the specific hours the office should be open. But Goonan and an associate, Danielle Harpin, were offered suggestions about further ways to save, including closing one office in Cornwall, consolidating to a better location for operations and even raising the cost of a first-class stamp to 50 cents.When pressed to explain the cost-savings if jobs or hours are not cut, Goonan would say only that those working the service window are paid more for that work. Labor hours would not change within the office, but employees would be sorting mail, at a lower pay rate, instead.The meeting was not especially confidence-instilling in some respects. Those arriving before the appointed 1 p.m. start found Goonan already responding to questions and comments. After the majority of the crowd arrived, he agreed to start again, but failed to even introduce himself. A handout offering key information showed an employee lunch break of 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. — a typo that many caught. Goonan prefaced one general comment with a rather weary directive to a reporter, saying, “You can put this in your newspaper if you want.” Afterward, people chatted and surmised that this was far from his first face-to-face with an emotional public that wanted to do more than say when they want their local post office to be open.Prior to the meeting, residents had a chance to offer input via a survey. A mailing to 590 West Cornwall residents resulted in 188 returns. Reassignment of hours was supported by 90 percent of the respondents; 2 percent said they would consider a mail delivery option instead of using a post office box. Five percent said they would use a nearby post office and 1 percent favored a “village post office.” Two percent made no selection.Based on the requests made in the surveys, the proposed service window hours will be Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday hours will remain at 9 a.m. to noon. No start date was given. Goonan said only that comments at the meeting would be considered and other service needs, such as the schedule for the truck bringing mail from the regional sorting facility, would have to be part of the decision.“The postal service has provided service for 200 years. There are post offices every 5 miles in the U.S. We are no different than any other business when it comes to looking at costs,” Goonan said.One resident referred to the USPS as a government agency. While the organization is authorized under the U.S. Constitution it is not taxpayer-funded for operational costs. It is required by law to provide the same services at the same cost to everyone in the U.S.Audience questionsWhy has there not been 24-hour access to post boxes before?“We never looked at it before,” Goonan said. “As things started to deteriorate economically in the post office, we began looking at different ways of doing business, and we wanted to give something back where hours are being cut.”The requirement for 24-hour access is that the post boxes be in a separate area from the rest of the facility, which needs to be secured.When will mail be available for pickup? Mail should be in boxes by 10 a.m., as usual. Mail sorters will be in at their usual early hours. What will be affected are purchased products and services.There was little discussion of a village post office approach. The USPS put out a request for a business to “partner” with them by providing space for post boxes and to sell stamps and prepaid mailing envelopes. It would be much like the beginnings of the postal service, when people got their mail at places like the general store. It does not mean the local post office would close.There were questions about the post office in Cornwall Village. Someone said they heard there is a legal precedent against closing it because it serves Town Hall. Goonan was not aware of such a law.Plans have been announced to cut weekday hours there in half, to four.The suggestion was made to consolidate in the vacant country store at the intersection of routes 4, 128 and 43. That would allow for the parking that is sorely lacking in West Cornwall, and would offer space to accommodate services for a larger area. Town centersAmong the concerns was economic development. Goonan assured residents and business owners that the USPS does look at how a post office and commerce interact within a ZIP code. Cornwall Bridge resident Joanne Wojtusiak said the Town Plan of Conservation and Development calls for keeping post offices in town centers where there is commerce, and that it would follow that if any office were to close, it should be the one in the village. She asked First Selectman Gordon Ridgway to comment.“Yes, that’s what the town plan says, but if you ask people in Cornwall Village, they will want to keep their post office, too. It’s like trying to choose between your kids,” Ridgway said. “My goal is to make sure we keep as much postal service in town as we can.”Written comments submitted soon will also be considered. They may be dropped off at the West Cornwall Post Office or mailed to USPS c/o Danielle Harpin, 141 Weston St., Hartford, CT 06101.