MILLERSBURG —
The Millersburg Post Office sits at the center of town.
It acts as more than a physical center of the town. Every day people stop to pick up their mail, greet one another and get caught up in conversation, making the post office a social center, too.
And the hours of that social center will be cut, according to a notice received by residents from the national United States Postal Service.
“The Postal Service intends to maintain the Millersburg Post Office with four hours of window service each weekday,” the notice states.
The window hours are now at six hours a day, according to the sign on the post office’s door. However, there’s a possibility the branch could close depending on findings from a public survey known as a “discontinuance study.”
Millersburg residents will have the opportunity to speak up about what changes they want to see with the post office. A survey was included with the notice about hours, and a public hearing will take place Oct. 17 at 4 p.m. in the Millersburg Elementary School cafeteria, according to the notice.
The survey asks responders to pick which option of postal service they would prefer. Options include:
• Shortened hours to four hours a day during the week, with Saturday hours unaffected.
• Conducting a discontinuance survey, looking into roadside mailbox delivery. Retail would continue through a rural carrier.
• Conducting a discontinuance survey and find a “suitable alternative location” for postal services (normally another local business takes on this role).
• Conducting a discontinuance survey and relocate P.O. Boxes to another post office.
Residential impact
What does this mean for the Millersburg community? Resident Nelly Campus said she would find problems with the shortened hours.
“How can you get here when it’s closed already, even now?” she said Monday.
Campus, who stopped by the post office Monday afternoon to mail a package, said the hours are already complicated and the shortened hours will make it even harder to get letters and packages in the mail.
“I’m used to just dropping by whenever,” she said. “I like to just be able to pick up my mail and send whatever I need to send, and now with gas even more expensive, you have to plan an entire other trip to come down to the post office when it’s open.”
Local Avery Ferguson said he personally wouldn’t be affected by the hours, except when he has a package delivered that doesn’t fit inside the resident boxes. Unlike other towns, Millersburg residents must come to the post office to pick up their mail if they live within a quarter-mile of the office.
Ferguson said there are only a few homes on the north side of Millersburg that have their mail delivered. Everyone else has to come to the office to pick up their mail from the 300-plus boxes along the walls of the main lobby.
“The biggest complaint would definitely be if the office closed,” he said. “It could potentially affect a lot of people.”
If you live in Millersburg and have not received a survey or notice, copies are available at the post office window.
Breaking News
Related Photos
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Stephanie Sawyer, left, assists Nelly Campus with a package Monday afternoon at the Millersburg Post Office. The office will have shortened hours, and may possibly close if the public shows interest to changing their service, according to a notice and survey sent out by the United States Postal Service. AMANDA GRAY | The Goshen News
Millersburg Post Office is on the clock
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