BRISTOL, Tenn. – During an often-emotional meeting at Tennessee High School on Wednesday, area residents grilled a U.S. Postal Service executive on a study that recommends switching some mail-processing work at Bristol’s Sixth Street plant to one in Johnson City.
Joseph Meimann, district manager for the Postal Service’s Appalachian District, was peppered with questions, comments and complaints about the study’s findings, which suggest the Postal Service could increase efficiency and save $750,000 a year by moving Bristol’s outgoing mail-processing work to Johnson City – and eliminating 14 positions at the Sixth Street distribution plant.
“You say this will save $750,000, but how much is this dog-and-pony show costing?” Bristol, Tenn. resident Hugh Cobb asked Meimann, to applause and roars from an estimated 160 people attending the public hearing.
The two-hour session was set up by the Postal Service to take local comments on the proposed change, which Meimann said would help eliminate duplicate outgoing mail work – now being done in both Bristol and Johnson City – without hurting the quality of area service.
“It’s all about the best use of our facilities,” Meimann told the crowd, noting that the Bristol and Johnson City mail plants are only 26 miles apart.
Meimann said the 14 Bristol employees who could lose jobs in the mail-distribution plant would probably have opportunities to fill other positions in the main Bristol post office – also on Sixth Street – or at facilities throughout the Appalachian District, which is based in Charleston, W.Va.
The Bristol mail-distribution plant currently has some 50 employees, including clerks, mail handlers, supervisors and electrical technicians.
“It’s not our intention to close the Bristol facility,” Meimann said.
But more than 30 speakers at the public hearing – among them postal employees, mail customers and community officials – expressed numerous concerns to Meimann about the proposal. They raised fears that a change would eliminate one-day delivery service from Bristol to many surrounding communities, force dropped employees to relocate their families and make it more difficult to get Bristol’s unique “TN/VA” postmark on letters.
And crowd members often loudly groaned and hissed in frustration when Meimann would frequently reply that the Postal Service was still studying the proposal and hadn’t made a final decision – while declining to say when one might be reached.
“I have not heard many answers tonight,” complained Paul Miller of Bristol, Va., as spectators whooped in approval. “I’ve just heard, over and over, that there’s a study taking place.” Miller’s skepticism of the study was echoed by Darlene Speer of Bristol, Va.
“If everything [good] you say could happen comes to pass, I have no beef with this,” Speer told Meimann. “But if that doesn’t come to pass, you’ll hear from me.”
While Wednesday night’s meeting was the only opportunity for residents to directly discuss the proposal with Postal Service officials, they still have other ways to offer feedback.
Through Jan. 28, the Postal Service will accept written comments on the Sixth Street proposal. Those comments can be mailed to: Consumer Affairs Manager, Appalachian District, P.O. Box 59631, Charleston, W.Va., 25350-9631.
rbrown@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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