Local postal customers have been given a reprieve.
The U.S. Postal Service has decided to delay closing post offices and sorting facilities across the country, including the one in Johnson City, until May 15.
The agency has been researching the potential closure of 252 sorting facilities and 3,700 post offices nationwide, also including several small post offices in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.
The Internet has hurt the Postal Service in recent years. Email and online bill-paying have reduced the volume of first-class mail and the organization is looking for ways to reduce costs.
In November, U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-1st, sent a letter to the USPS expressing his concerns about the potential closure of the Johnson City facility. Other legislators have expressed similar concerns and some even asked that the decision be delayed.
Bowing to congressional pressure, the USPS placed a moratorium on closing sorting facilities and post offices in hopes that Congress can find a solution to their financial problems before May 15.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues on trying to fix the Postal Service’s troubled finances,” Roe said in a written statement. “I remain concerned about the impact that consolidation will have on the workforce in Johnson City, and whether we will see a further erosion in service. It seems to me there are other, more pressing reforms that need to be implemented before considering service reductions.”
During the moratorium period, the potential cost savings of the proposed closings will be studied, USPS spokesman David Walton said. The agency is moving forward with public hearings and evaluating data based on written comments and public hearings that have already been held.
A public hearing was held on closing the Johnson City facility in December. If the facility closes, Mountain Empire mail would be sorted in Knoxville.
“We are still reviewing everything,” Walton said.
Kim Hardwick Guy, Tennessee Postal Workers Union president, said Congress has been absent on the problems for years.
“The legislators have known about this for some time and have taken no action,” Guy said.
The real problem, she said, is a congressional mandate for the agency to pre-pay health coverage for retirees, costing the Postal Service billions of dollars.
During all the upheaval nationally, the local post office is also in transition. In late October, the sorting facility was closed in Bristol and all Bristol mail is now sorted in Johnson City. The transfer created major problems and delays for local mail customers.
“It caused extremely late delays in getting the mail,” said USPS District Director Darryl Myers during a December interview with the Herald Courier.
In addition, the Bristol postmaster, Ted Bell, left due to a promotion and an interim was named. The interim postmaster was from Gate City and is returning there soon.
USPS spokeswoman Cathy Yarosky said the application period for the postmaster position in Bristol closed Wednesday and the agency received 13 applications.
“We hope to have someone in place by the end of the month,” Yarosky said.
jshea@bistolnews.com
(276) 645-2511
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement