People of South Orange, Village President Sheena Collum has heard your cries about missing mail, mis-delivered mail, sporadic delivery, and long lines at the South Orange Post Office.
Collum has been collecting complaints, even putting out a call on Nextdoor West Montrose on April 14, posting that, “based on many of the concerns about the Post Office,” the town had set up a meeting to speak with the regional manager of the United States Postal Service on Thursday, April 21.
“I need your assistance in sharing your concerns here,” wrote Collum. “I will be sending him a list of the items in advance of our discussion.”
Collum reported that more than 70 residents responded, either via Nextdoor or email.
A typical complaint (this one from a resident in Upper Wyoming):
Our mail comes sporadically. There are days when we receive nothing and then we seem to get it all at once. The mail person often does not take the outgoing mail, which has become more important since they eliminated many of the mailboxes. Packages often do not show up on a timely basis and I once saw a substitute mail person throw a package from across my driveway into my porch. Service has really gone downhill.
While others complimented the service provided by their regular mail carriers, those residents also had problems with service when subs filled in. For example: “When there is a sub we often get misdirected mail. It’s easy enough for us to deliver it to our neighbors or put it back in the outgoing slot for the morning but who knows if other households are as honest as that? I worry about missing mail.”
Still others asked that there either be more agents or stamp vending machines at the post office in order to alleviate long lines. Some residents asked for more parking at the post office.
So how did the meeting with USPS go?
At the April 25 Board of Trustees meeting, Collum first thanked Deputy Village Administrator Adam Loehner for coordinating the meeting and then reported, “We had a very wonderful meeting and they will bring back an action plan. Hopefully moving forward we will have better post office delivery and service.”
The Village President said that the regional manager would get back to South Orange leaders within the week.
Stay tuned!
