Small NK, CC post offices spared closure

Barhamsville residents listen intently while Robert Gardner (far right), manager for post office operations, explains what the U.S. Postal Service has in store for their local post office during a Jan. 8 public meeting inside the Barhamsville facility. Hours are being curtailed, but the post office is not closing.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Among the first to show up for a public meeting with U.S. Postal Service officials to learn the fate of her local post office, Barhamsville resident Nora Phillips expressed her desire concerning the facility.

“I hope they keep it open,” she said shortly before the Jan. 8 meeting inside the facility got under way.

“They can shorten the hours as long as they keep it open,” she added.

She got her wish.

Postal officials emerged with what they termed “good news.” Barhamsville Post Office in eastern New Kent County is to remain open, but under slightly curtailed hours for window service. The announcement drew a collective sigh of relief from the more than two-dozen local residents who had crowded into the post office’s small lobby.

Although not firmly set in stone, projected window hours for Barhamsville are 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday (closed for lunch 11:30-12) and 8 a.m.-12 noon Saturday. A final decision is expected this week. New hours should go into effect in the next 45-60 days, postal officials say.

Currently, window hours are 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7-11 a.m. Saturday. The upcoming changes result in a two-hour reduction on weekdays. Postal officials label the changes as “a fair and viable solution.”

Postal officials said the same a few hours earlier during a similar meeting held at Ruthville Post Office in Charles City County. Only three residents attended the meeting where they learned that new hours for window service are expected to be 12:30-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8-11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Current window hours at Ruthville are 8:30-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8-11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Under the proposed new hours, the post office window will no longer be open mornings on weekdays, meaning a weekday loss of three hours per day.

Lobbies at both Barhamsville and Ruthville, meanwhile, remain open 24/7 for customer access, and there is no ZIP code change.

“This new strategy keeps small post offices open at a significant cost savings to the postal service,” Kimberly Allen, postmaster from Urbanna in Middlesex County, told the Barhamsville crowd in making the reduced hours announcement. She along with Robert Gardner, the postal service’s regional director of post office operations, addressed the residents.

“We believe this is a reasonable solution for the community,” she added.

But there is a catch. The new solution applies to just the next two years, Allen said. In 2014, every U.S. post office is to be reevaluated and the process that began last May repeats. Barhamsville and Ruthville once again could be under the gun.

In September, the postal service mailed survey forms to Barhamsville’s 507 customers. Similar forms were mailed to 73 addresses in Ruthville.

On the form, customers had a choice of four options, one of which kept the post office open but with reduced weekday window service hours. The other three pertained to closing Barhamsville and Ruthville with options to either retain roadside mail delivery, locate the post office in a nearby business, or transfer service to another nearby post office, presumably Lanexa or Toano for Barhamsville and Charles City for Ruthville.

Of the 199 forms returned in Barhamsville, 179 or 90 percent preferred reducing hours, but keeping the post office open. Four respondents opted for delivery service only while the other two options received no support. No selection was made on 16 forms.

In Ruthville, 22 forms came back and all but one, which was ruled inconclusive, opted for keeping the post office open.

Allen said 54 percent of respondents nationwide are in favor of the reduced hours option. The move, she said, is part of an effort aimed at “long-term financial stability” since the postal service has lost $2.5 billion since 2007. Business nationwide has been on the decline, thanks in part to e-mail, she added.

“How can you tell if our business [at Barhamsville] has declined?” questioned Barhamsville resident David Paul.

“A post office is more important to rural areas,” he said. “I’ve lived here all my life. Has this declined?”

“It’s straight across the board, absolutely,” answered Allen.

Other residents asked if postal officials considered installing vending machines for parcel service or closing the post office on Saturdays. Gardner responded that vending machines lose money. Allen, meanwhile, said postal officials favor Saturday closure, but Congress, which has final say, is unlikely to grant approval.

“There was no option to close on any one day,” Allen added.

Other residents weighed in on what could happen two years from now when small post offices face reevaluation.

“People should use the mail more and not computers,” said Phillips, who confessed she is not computer saavy.

“It’s very important for you to support your local post office,” chimed in Allen.

Phillips pledged support even though first class postage increases to 46 cents later this month.

Barhamsville resident Jim Christensen expressed gratitude over the postal service’s decision concerning the local post office.

“Thank you for keeping this place open,” he told Allen and Gardner. “It’s very handy for me, and as I get older, it’s even handier.”

Outside afterward, residents voiced relief.

“I don’t have the figures with me, but I know this is one of the oldest post offices in continuing operation in the U.S. It’s over 200 years old,” Paul said.

Paul’s mother, Ruth Paul, served as Barhamsville’s postmaster for 27 years, back when the post office was located in a small building across New Kent Highway from the present location and later in a trailer adjacent to today’s site. She retired in the mid-1980s, just before the current building was constructed.

Another resident, who declined to give her name, said Barhamsville Post Office serves an important function.

“This is the anchor for our community,” she said. “This is home base for this community.”

Reporter Andre’ Jones contributed to this story.