Residents: North Canton Post Office About Convenience, Service, Community and History

The North Canton Post Office offers convenience, superior service, a sense of community and a historical legacy.

Those were some of the themes from residents at an informational meeting about the office at Grange Hall #210 Tuesday night.

Approximately 75 residents came out to listen and comment on the Post Office’s review and study of the facility. Post Office personnel stressed that no decision has been made but a letter to Post Office Box holders clearly stated the office “may not be warranted.”

“It is in the best interest of the post office to meet the needs of your customers,” said resident Gail Champlin. “Promote your smaller post offices as locations where people can get fast and friendly service.”

Champlin was one of many residents who asked questions and offered suggestions to postal service representatives. She and others offered an alternative viewpoint for the continued vitality of community post offices. 

But postal service representatives said that’s an uphill battle.

Joseph Mazzola, acting manager of Post Office operations for the region, began the meeting with a stark picture of challenges nationwide and in North Canton.

Largely due to the Internet for communication and bill payment, mail volume has declined 20 percent since 2006 and the service lost $8.5 billion last year, he said. In addition, federal mandates require the service to spend some $5 billion this year to prefund future retiree health benefits.

In North Canton, revenue last year was $38,300 while expenses were $79,332, according to Mazzola.

And workload at the office, spread throughout the day, is at about 1.8 hours daily, he said.

 The service can only review a post office if there’s no postmaster, which has been the case in North Canton for several years.

Still, the service has not made a decision in the 48-step process and truly considers the surveys and resident feedback, Mazzola said.

“It’s truly going to help us make a decision,” Mazzola said.

If the office should close, residents with P.O. Boxes can have post office boxes in Canton Center and still keep their 06059 zip code, Mazzola said.

He initially stated that those people who chose home delivery would have to change their zip code but later said the service could at least look into letting customers keep it since the number is small and carriers would know where to deliver the mail.

Ed Evonsion said he chose a P.O. to keep his zip code and not go through the cumbersome process of changing his address. He also said he does not want to drive to another post office, especially with high gas prices.

Evonsion suggested that if the office closed, P.O. Box holders should have the option of locked boxes in North Canton they could still access.

Mazzola said such stand alone units have been installed in other communities and are a real possibility.

“If push comes to shove that’s a reasonable solution,” he said.

After the meeting, Glenn Thomas said that idea would be better than P.O. Boxes at another office but he’s fighting for the office to stay open. He freely admits he is the landlord of the building but said it’s not about the money and would gladly lower the some $7,000 the post office pays per year if it meant saving the facility.

“This is as close to a community center as we have in this area,” he said.

Thomas, who has gathered more than 100 signatures for a petition, said he was most frustrated that postal representatives would not answer him directly when he asked what it would take to save the facility.

“We should be able to get a snapshot as to where it is we have to be to stay open,” he said.  

Mazzola said the service will look at comments, historical use, data and usage information collected over a recent two-week period.

Thomas also tried to emphasize a marketing approach. The North Canton facility, for example, is one of few places in the area that does passports, he said.

He also praised Kathy Condron, officer in charge at the facility since June 2010 as being a personable employee that has truly connected with residents and could help increase revenues. Other residents applauded the comments.

Barbara Mastroianni, post office review coordinator for the CT Valley District, said other offices slated for review have stayed open and all the information is taken seriously. 

“We’re going to evaluate everything coming in,” she said. 

Depite the assertions that it’s not a done deal, resident Richard Zommer doesn’t hold much hope that closure can be avoided.

“They’re going to do what they’re going to do and they’re looking a dollars,” he said after the meeting.

The current post office has been used as a post office since since 1958. Postal Service in North Canton, however, dates back to 1826.

According to the 2006 Canton Bicentennial Commemorative Book dr. Benjamin Weed, a surgeon in the War of 1812 was the first postmaster in an area then known as New Canton and performed his mail duties from his medical office on West Simsbury Road.

Today there are 62 post office boxes in use, Mazzola said.

Lobby hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. Window service is provided from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4:30 p.m. during the week and 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturday. 

Mazzola said the review process is a minimum of 210 days. If the office should put up a notice of intent to close, residents still have 60 days to comment, he said.

More about those procedures can be found here.