Audience members at the December 11 meeting about the Bristol post office's changes and possible move.

About 30 persons attended a meeting at the Open Door Center on Friday, December 11, to express their opposition to changes in Bristol area mail delivery, especially the possible closing of the Bristol post office. Dan Watson and Ann Andre chaired the ad hoc meeting, which represented individual concerned residents, and was not sponsored by any organization.

Public reports have confirmed this paper’s disclosure that the rural delivery routes will be moved to Elkhart on January 16, 2010. It has since been learned that Osceola rural routes will be consolidated into the Mishawaka post office.

Since these consolidation moves will require longer drives and more time, audience members questioned the purported savings of $1.5 million in the ZIP code areas beginning with 465__. No satisfactory answers have yet been given by postal authorities contacted.

Those same postal officials have so far denied rumors that there are plans to close some leased post office buildings, such as Bristol’s. Those at the meeting, however, were not encouraged by news about the lease on the current post office building, which has traditionally been renewed every four years, and is up for renewal at the end of 2010.

Dan Watson contacted the owner of the building, and determined that no new lease has yet been signed, in part because the postal officials in charge of facilities are demanding a three-month “opt out” clause in any new lease. This certainly introduces a new element of uncertainty in the matter regarding the possible closure of the Bristol post office.

Several audience members expressed regret at the thought of losing a local post office, and praised the Bristol personnel, several of whom were present, for their friendly, courteous service. One person said he sees this issue as “another of our freedoms eroding away.” Another mentioned the difficulty of attracting new businesses to a town without its own post office.

Ann Andre mentioned several examples of small towns that saved post offices from closing by mounting letter and petition campaigns. Even though there has been no official confirmation of plans to close the Bristol post office, those at the meeting were in favor of a preventive campaign to forestall such a decision.
Accordingly, petition forms were passed out to those in attendance. These should be brought to the meeting of the Bristol Town Council (BTC) on Thursday, December 17. (All members of the BTC and the town manager were at the December 11 meeting.)

The petitions are directed to Rep. Mark Souder, congressional representative for this district. As a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Souder is also on the subcommittee entitled “Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and District of Columbia.” The U.S. Postal Service reports to this subcommittee, and requires its approval for major changes and initiatives.

WNDU coverage of this story

(Correction: The article in the December 5 issue of The Bristol Bugle erroneously listed the Middlebury post office in the list of those occupying leased buildings. We regret the error.)