by John Isley
Guest Contributor Close to 30 Woodgate residents comprising the Woodgate Citizens Committee have been meeting on Monday evenings at the Woodgate Library to formulate plans to convince the Postal Service to keep the Woodgate Post Office open.
The group urges all postal patrons to return the latest optional commment form available from the Woodgate Post Office. Citizens have until July 27 to return the forms with their comments of support for keeping the local post office open.
During the past week a petition has been circulated that has received over 600 signatures in support of the Post Office. Letters to elected officials are available at the library for residents to sign and send to senators and congressmen.
Town of Forestport William Hasenauer informed the group that he had met with representatives of the Association of Towns and Villages who will take the message to the state and federal level.
Over 70 post offices in the Albany region are in closure procedures. It was noted that the closing of some 3,400 post offices nationwide will impact the postal budget by 0.7 percent.
The group has also contacted the Postal Regulatory Committee (PRC) in Washington, DC. The PRC will be the appeal agency should a final closure order be issued in August.
In addition of the support of Congressman William Owens (D-23rd), Supervisor Hasenauer reported he had met with Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney who is forming a group of North Country Assemblypersons to take this issue to the Governor.
It is the group’s opinion that the Postal Service’s proposal to provide rural boxes in place of a post office is not a money saver, but rather an additional expense as no income is derived from rural box delivery.
Secondly, it is the opinion of the Citizens Committee that the closing of the post office could be described as legalized identity theft, as it will effect residents’ IRS status, banking, Department of Motor Vehicles procedures, and local business operations.
The group will be requesting a meeting with Congressman Owens who has propsed some ideas to bring the postal service’s financial house in order.
The Citizens Committee will meet again on Monday, June 20 at 7 p.m. at the Woodgate Library.
