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Last call for post office at Elizabeth
Published Thursday, August 9, 2007
In a few weeks, Melvin Nord will no longer have to make daily trips to the Elizabeth General Store to pick up his mail, and he’s not happy about it.
Curbside mail delivery comes to Elizabeth Aug. 27, replacing the boxes at the store. Patrons have been notified by letter, Fergus Falls postmaster Bradley Beck said. Elizabeth will keep its 56533 zip code.
“It hardly makes sense,” Nord said. “It’s been here for years. Why change? Who’s going to take care of the snow in front of them?”
Potential for theft from the boxes concerns him as well.
For years, Elizabeth’s post office has been located in the community’s convenience store as a contract facility, not a standard post office. When the store changed ownership recently, postal service was not continued. The post office and Gary Wilde, new owner of the store and city fire chief, couldn’t come to a financial agreement regarding financial reimbursement for providing the service, Wilde said.
“It hasn’t been a very pleasant road,” he said of the coming transition. “The mayor and I were trying to think of alternatives to losing the post office.”
Mayor Howard Eunau was not available for comment.
Because there was no other alternative, Beck said, curbside delivery is being implemented, with patrons responsible for purchasing their own box. These won’t be the familiar gray cluster boxes, but groupings of boxes placed at the end of a street.
“It’s just a regular, rural-type box that you can get anywhere,” Beck said.
Aug. 25 is the last day mail will come to the store. Service is not expected to change drastically. Instead of going to the store to mail packages or buy stamps, stamps can be purchased from the carrier. By going on-line to usps.com, arrangements can be made to have the carrier pick up a package.
“Instead of driving to town to get their mail,” it will be delivered closer to their homes, Beck said.
But while mail is now ready for patrons early in the morning, around 9 a.m., “Mail delivery will be a little later” with the new system, he said. But until it gets started, he does not know by how much.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by donnyguinness (anonymous) on August 9, 2007 at 1:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You can't make everyone happy. He is mad that his mail is going to be delivered to his house? I'm confused.
Posted by ffresident (anonymous) on August 9, 2007 at 2:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
people around 'these here parts' are just stuck in their ways.
Posted by tanker8 (anonymous) on August 9, 2007 at 2:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Couldn't come to a financial agreement to continue the service?
He DOESN'T want people coming thru his store 6 days a week?
Posted by Kurtisishere (anonymous) on August 9, 2007 at 4:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sure seems like a good idea to just put those boxes out on the street in a residential neighborhood where it's much easier for someone to come by and steal the mail. Can't wait to see how long it takes for those items that are ordered online get stolen. I suppose that won't happen as quickly as those damn pre-approved credit card offers. I think identity theft is still a common occurence, and this won't alleviate it at all.
The "rural" type boxes work well in a rural type of environment (usually at the end of someone's drive way, off of a busy county road, or a lesser traveled gravel road). But to install rural type boxes in a cluster in a residential is just a disaster waiting to happen. It just sucks that an agreement couldn't be reached on this issue. I would have felt much more confident about the security of the mail being within the convenience store, and out of the hands of bored kids, identity theifs, or worse.
A locked door in a home or a car usually won't deter these types from attaining what they desire, so I doubt they'll think twice before reaching in and grabbing everything just to see what they find. It's kind of scary.
Posted by wendies43 (anonymous) on August 9, 2007 at 11:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If you are that worried about your mail getting stolen, then get a post office box in Fergus Falls
Posted by eagle_eye (anonymous) on August 10, 2007 at 1:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We HAVE a P.O. box in the town I live in, and the boxes are old, antiquated things that don't even lock right. People have been known to go in and go through the boxes. That's why our post office is no longer open 24 hours for us to get our mail...only open when there are people working in the building. Just getting close to the combinaton will open ours, and the Postmaster has talked to Fargo and they said there's no parts available for these oldies any more. Strange how some small town post offices have the fancy new boxes and an old dilapidated mail scale that isn't very accurate, and ours has a fancy new digital electronic scale and relics for boxes.
Posted by Jerry (anonymous) on August 10, 2007 at 11:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I have lived in a city with rural type mailboxes in front of every house for about 40 years, no one has ever taken anything. I don't think that anyone in a metropolis such as Elizabeth will have any worries. Why would anyone want to go elsewhere for their mail?
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