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Local Communities React To Good News About Rural Post Offices

Story Published: May 9, 2012 at 4:19 PM EDT

Story Updated: May 9, 2012 at 7:54 PM EDT

It's a reprieve for the Ellisburg Post Office and almost 3,700 others around the nation that the Postal Service had planned to close.

"Any rural community that wants to retain their post office, we'll be doing that," said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.

Donahoe says the about-face comes after listening to rural residents worried about losing their post offices.

The new plan calls for keeping post offices open, but with shorter window hours, and part-time postmasters.

"And we believe this will result in very few post offices being closed in rural America," said Megan Brennan, Postal Service Chief Operating Officer.

The prospect of shorter hours sounds just fine to folks in Ellisburg, if it means keeping their post office open.

"That would be a reasonable price to pay rather than closing the post office entirely," said Ellisburg Mayor Jim Matthews.

"I think it's a great thing that they came up with this compromise, I really do," said Debbie Payne, town/village clerk. 

However, the reduced hours will affect more than the 3,700 post offices that would have been closed.

More than 13,000 rural facilities may see their hours cut between two and six hours.

Still, north country Congressman Bill Owens (D. - 23rd District) is cautiously optimistic - he says this could be the beginning of a plan to cut costs and preserve services.

See our earlier report
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
, Watertown, NY

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