by John Isley Guest Contributor
As expected, the United States Postal Service is moving quickly to close 3,400 rural post offices, including Woodgate’s, before the Postal Regulatory Commission and Congress has time to react.
The Woodgate Post Office received its “final determination to close and extend service by rural route service” on Wednesday, August 24.
The announcement was not unexpected and the Woodgate Citizens Committee is in the process of filing an appeal of closure and a 120-day stay of closure with the Postal Regulatory Commission in Washington.
The appeal must be—and will be—filed by September 23, 2011.
In the meantime, the Postal Service announced this week that the Postal Service will be bankrupt by mid-September and intends to lay-off 120,000 more carriers and close an additional 15,000 post offices.
In light of this announcement, how long will the rural carrier service that is being proposed for Woodgate be maintained?
The Postal Service is the nation’s second largest employer.
Its infrastructure includes billions of dollars in buildings, and transportation routes.
The Postal Regulatory Commission will be holding a hearing in Washington at 9:30 a.m. on September 8 to review the postal service’s methodology in closing the currently proposed 3,800 offices.
The Woodgate Citizens Committee has been assured by Congressman Bill Owens and
Congressman Richard Hanna that they will be attending the hearing on behalf of Woodgate and other post offices in their district.
Both Congressmen support House Bill HR1351 – the USPS Recalculation Reform Act of 2011, a bill that would recover $6.9 billion in overpayments to postal pensions.
That bill currently lacks about 25 congressional votes for passage.
Congress is in recess until September 7.
Several hundred community responses that were filed during the postal service’s comment periods can be seen at the Woodgate Post Office.
The postal service’s responses were generated by computer using the “Change Suspension Discontinuance Center (CSDC) software program.
Any response that could not be issued to any of the 3,800 offices was simply noted as being entered into the “official record.”
The Woodgate Citizens Committee has obtained information on operating what the postal service calls a Village Post Office (VPO).
The “VPO” term replaces the “Contractor Version” of service under which the Woodgate Post Office previously operated.
By definition, a VPO performs limited functions and services, but would offer community/zip code identity and post office boxes. The downside is a VPO can be closed without following postal regulation processes.
A VPO concept cannot be applied for until the Postal Regulatory Commission’s appeal process is complete.
