WOODFORD - Woodford is on Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe's list of nearly 3,700 potential post office closures by the end of the year. And the news isn't going over very well in town.
The post office, said David Stute, Wiota Township Board chairman, "has been the identity of Woodford, since the day the railroad left."
The issue is on the Town of Wiota's board agenda for 7 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Woodford Fire Department. Stute wants to get public feedback on the post office, and the board may agree to write a letter to the post master general.
"I think that's all we can do," he said.
The nationwide closures and other proposals under consideration, such as reducing service to five days a week, are necessary to close a $20 billion gap in revenue by 2015, according to Donahoe.
"The Postal Service of the future will be smaller, leaner and more competitive, and it will continue to drive commerce, serve communities and deliver value," Donahoe said in a statement in late July.
But Woodford business owners and government leaders fail to see how closing their tiny post office benefits the town.
Woodford Businesses weigh closure's impact
The post office in the unincorporated village of about 60 to 70 people has no rural delivery routes. The post office boxes are for the village residents to receive their mail, Stute said. But the post office handles postage stamp sales and can accept out-going mail, including packages.
For some business owners, the change could be costly and inconvenient. Lovelace Well Drilling and Pump Company, on County M south of Woodford, is on one of the rural delivery routes out of Argyle. The company ships water samples daily.
But the rural route pickup is at 2 p.m., and any sample brought in after that time still needs to be shipped before the end of the day, said Penny Lovelace. By contrast, Lovelace said the company can ship its samples, weighed and postage paid, out of Woodford, less than a mile away, until about 4 p.m.
"Otherwise, we would have to drive to Argyle or Browntown," she said, a trip that would take about 20 minutes one way.
Pharm Aloe, Inc., started by Keith and Sonia Seiler in 1991, is across the street from the Woodford post office.
Sonia Seiler said their family business doesn't ship products from the post office, but shutting it down would cause problems nonetheless.
Even getting on a rural delivery route out of Argyle is not as helpful as a regular post office, because "I have no idea what things cost to mail," she said. "It will be a major hassle. Now, someone will have to leave work to make a trip to Argyle," about seven miles away.
If Woodford loses its postal address, Pharm Aloe may have to change all its product labels, preprinted shipping labels, literature and advertising signs.
Woodford, 53599
Closing the post office would cause more than just inconvenience to the residents of Woodford, she added.
"It takes away our whole identity," she said - not just for the business, but for the community.
Seiler fears the village town name will be lost, along with its post office. She said she doesn't care if the U.S. Post Office changes the zip code, but losing the name of the village in the address saddens her.
"My husband was born here," she said, and it is the place they have built their business for more than 20 years.
"We are Woodford, 53599," she said. "It's too much of a change."
Stute and Seiler said the post office is also a community center, where people meet while waiting for the mail to come in. The only other social spot in the village is Lelle's Bar, where they serve coffee in the mornings.
Most of the post offices being studied for closure have little foot traffic and average sales are less than $50 a day, according to the Postal Service. To fill the gap, more than 2,500 so-called "village post offices" may be created in grocery and convenience stores in the next year, according to Dean Granholm, vice president of delivery and post office operations. Creation of the first replacement village post offices are to be announced this fall.
Donahoe said the village post office concept could help small businesses across the country.
"By working with third-party retailers, we're creating easier, more convenient access to our products and services when and where our customers want them," Donahoe said. "The Village post office will offer another way for us to meet our customers' needs."
Future plans
Woodford is on the "village post office" list, but the question is, where would it be set up?
Pharm Aloe is located in an historic general store, which once held the post office, said Seiler. But she and the Lelles said they aren't prepared to take on any more work at their places of business.
Woodford State Bank, which sends out thousands of monthly bank statements from there, may not be permitted a post office, they said.
The closings are expected to begin within the next four to six months, with the first closing by January.
Of the nearly 32,000 post offices and only 19 percent cover their costs, said U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Sue Brennan.
The Postal Service is a federal agency, but it has not receive taxpayer funding since the early 1980s, when it was phased into an independent, self-sufficient financial entity.
The post office, said David Stute, Wiota Township Board chairman, "has been the identity of Woodford, since the day the railroad left."
The issue is on the Town of Wiota's board agenda for 7 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Woodford Fire Department. Stute wants to get public feedback on the post office, and the board may agree to write a letter to the post master general.
"I think that's all we can do," he said.
The nationwide closures and other proposals under consideration, such as reducing service to five days a week, are necessary to close a $20 billion gap in revenue by 2015, according to Donahoe.
"The Postal Service of the future will be smaller, leaner and more competitive, and it will continue to drive commerce, serve communities and deliver value," Donahoe said in a statement in late July.
But Woodford business owners and government leaders fail to see how closing their tiny post office benefits the town.
Woodford Businesses weigh closure's impact
The post office in the unincorporated village of about 60 to 70 people has no rural delivery routes. The post office boxes are for the village residents to receive their mail, Stute said. But the post office handles postage stamp sales and can accept out-going mail, including packages.
For some business owners, the change could be costly and inconvenient. Lovelace Well Drilling and Pump Company, on County M south of Woodford, is on one of the rural delivery routes out of Argyle. The company ships water samples daily.
But the rural route pickup is at 2 p.m., and any sample brought in after that time still needs to be shipped before the end of the day, said Penny Lovelace. By contrast, Lovelace said the company can ship its samples, weighed and postage paid, out of Woodford, less than a mile away, until about 4 p.m.
"Otherwise, we would have to drive to Argyle or Browntown," she said, a trip that would take about 20 minutes one way.
Pharm Aloe, Inc., started by Keith and Sonia Seiler in 1991, is across the street from the Woodford post office.
Sonia Seiler said their family business doesn't ship products from the post office, but shutting it down would cause problems nonetheless.
Even getting on a rural delivery route out of Argyle is not as helpful as a regular post office, because "I have no idea what things cost to mail," she said. "It will be a major hassle. Now, someone will have to leave work to make a trip to Argyle," about seven miles away.
If Woodford loses its postal address, Pharm Aloe may have to change all its product labels, preprinted shipping labels, literature and advertising signs.
Woodford, 53599
Closing the post office would cause more than just inconvenience to the residents of Woodford, she added.
"It takes away our whole identity," she said - not just for the business, but for the community.
Seiler fears the village town name will be lost, along with its post office. She said she doesn't care if the U.S. Post Office changes the zip code, but losing the name of the village in the address saddens her.
"My husband was born here," she said, and it is the place they have built their business for more than 20 years.
"We are Woodford, 53599," she said. "It's too much of a change."
Stute and Seiler said the post office is also a community center, where people meet while waiting for the mail to come in. The only other social spot in the village is Lelle's Bar, where they serve coffee in the mornings.
Most of the post offices being studied for closure have little foot traffic and average sales are less than $50 a day, according to the Postal Service. To fill the gap, more than 2,500 so-called "village post offices" may be created in grocery and convenience stores in the next year, according to Dean Granholm, vice president of delivery and post office operations. Creation of the first replacement village post offices are to be announced this fall.
Donahoe said the village post office concept could help small businesses across the country.
"By working with third-party retailers, we're creating easier, more convenient access to our products and services when and where our customers want them," Donahoe said. "The Village post office will offer another way for us to meet our customers' needs."
Future plans
Woodford is on the "village post office" list, but the question is, where would it be set up?
Pharm Aloe is located in an historic general store, which once held the post office, said Seiler. But she and the Lelles said they aren't prepared to take on any more work at their places of business.
Woodford State Bank, which sends out thousands of monthly bank statements from there, may not be permitted a post office, they said.
The closings are expected to begin within the next four to six months, with the first closing by January.
Of the nearly 32,000 post offices and only 19 percent cover their costs, said U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Sue Brennan.
The Postal Service is a federal agency, but it has not receive taxpayer funding since the early 1980s, when it was phased into an independent, self-sufficient financial entity.