Grass roots campaign underway to save Leonardsville Post Office
LEONARDSVILLE, N.Y. (WKTV) - Residents in Leonardsville, a hamlet in the Town of Brookfield, are working together to save their post office. The local post office has been listed on one in danger of closing.
Residents of Leonardsville received some mail from the U.S. Postal Service recently. Leonardsville Fire Chief Lysle Jones is among them. "It was a survey," he said. "I opened up the letter and see it's a survey from the post office, so I hand it to my wife to fill out." That survey asks each resident in Leonardsville what they use their post office for, whether they pass another post office during their daily travels to work or to go shopping, and how would having to go to the next closest post office, five miles away effect them. But that's not all. Besides the questionnaire, the Postal Service mentions in the attached letter that it is sending a representative on April 19 to answer people's questions they may have and get their input about a possible closure of the Leonardsville Post Office. That session will take place at the very building that may end up being closed. The session will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. That's why residents gathered inside the Leonardsville Fire Station on Saturday afternoon to discuss where they go from here. The group of about two dozen decided a letter writing campaign was the best option. They are going to contact politicians left and right to plead their case to keep their post office open. Brookfield Town Supervisor John Salka says he would have liked to have heard from someone from the Postal Service before this process began. "I have not heard a thing and I'm kind of surprised, being the official chief official of the town, I haven't heard anything whatsoever from the postal service," Salka said. Last year alone, the Postal Service lost $8.5 billion. The U.S. Postal Service is planning to close up to 2000 post offices to save money. They are looking at an estimated 16,000 post offices across the country to determine which ones will cause the least disruption for area residents. Residents all across America will be holding these types of meetings, leading to letter writing campaigns, even demonstrations to keep their post office open. Leonardsville is about 20 miles south of Utica on Route 8. |
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