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Post Office Closings

December 14, 2011 by · Comments Off on Post Office Closings 

Post Office Closings, Westfield’s mayor said he is glad to hear plans to close post offices such as the one in his town will be delayed until May of next year.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Tuesday agreed to delay the proposed closing or consolidation of any post offices or mail processing facilities until mid-May, the Associated Press reported.

This fall, post offices in Brunsville, Oyens and Westfield were listed as those which might be closed to save money, according to postal officials.

The savings from closing the Westfield Post Office would be $288,000 in 10 years, according to the USPS proposal.

The 10-year savings at Oyens was projected at $55,000 and the projected savings for Brunsville was $329,000.

A decision on the closings had been expected by the end of the year.

The news of a delay in closing post offices was welcomed by Westfield Mayor Bill Hummel.

“I am certainly glad they decided to re-think a little bit before the USPS made their recommendations,” Hummel said.

The delay comes one week before Westfield area residents planned to responded to an expected 30-day notice for comments about the closing.

“We were poised to refute any claims that they needed to close the Westfield Post Office,” Hummel said.

A list of committees and citizens was set up to write to postal officials to explain why they shouldn’t close the Westfield Post Office, the uses the town has for the facility and the hardships that the closing would cause for the community, he explained.

The committees were formed after more than 100 Westfield area residents attended a meeting with two postal officials in Westfield last month.

A closing would be a hardship, Hummel said.

The impact would be on citizens and businesses which use the post office for billing and delivery, as well as older Westfield residents who do not drive, Hummel said.

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