Concerned Alplaus residents and elected officials met on Tuesday, Nov. 15, to brainstorm ways to stop the closure of their 89-year-old post office.
Postmaster Kathy McGarry Boyle said she received a letter from the United States Postal Service on Nov. 2 stating that the Alplaus location was slated to close by Jan.6, even though the location is profitable. Residents were outraged at the news and more than 50 residents packed the upstairs of the Alplaus Fire House to share their ideas.
Alplaus Resident Association President Andy Gilpin called the meeting, along with starting a petition and local letter writing campaign in hopes of getting the attention of USPS officials.
“Historically the ARA has stood up to support the post office and to try to find ways to save it,” said Gilpin, adding that the letters have helped to reach elected officials to start a dialogue with them.
This is the third time the Alplaus location has been slated to close by the USPS since it opened in 1922, according to Boyle. Once was in 1973 when the location went from a union-led post office to a contracted station, and again in 2000 because of budget issues.
Residents fought to keep the location open each time, but now the slated closure is for different reasons.
In an email from USPS spokeswoman Maureen Marion to Gilpin, it was explained that the Alplaus location — along with 19 other post offices throughout the country — is slated to close because of a contract negotiation between the clerks union and the Postal Service.
“This is not negotiable at the local level nor is it a decision that can be overturned,” said Marion. “For that reason, attending a public meeting could raise a false hope. We have been mandated to move forward and we will.”
Marion said the decision to close the Alplaus branch, “does not reflect on the revenues of the office, the performance of the local operators, or the foot traffic of visitors to the site.”
Boyle said she fears the 20 locations may all be contracted offices that don’t belong to the union, and the negotiation was to close those branches so more money could be given to ones in the union.
If the branch does close the nearest post office locations would be in Rexford and Glenville, which are both about 2 miles away. In the email, Marion noted that places like CVS and Price Chopper also sell stamps.
State Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, attended the meeting to show his support and urged residents to contact their federal representatives because they often negotiate terms with the post office. He also sent a letter to the Postmaster General and Congressman Paul Tonko on the hamlet’s behalf.
“It boggles my mind to think that (USPS) is going bankrupt, so it wants to designate a post office to close that gives them $40,000 of revenue a year. If I was going to close post offices I would close the ones that lose money,” said Tedisco.
Residents expressed a number of ideas from contacting the clerks union on the federal level, to buying up the remainder of the branch’s P.O. boxes so it would be hard for the Postal Service to find replacement boxes for residents.
Boyle said the main concern is that senior residents will no longer have a post office in walking distance and many will have to install a mailbox in the middle of winter or drive several miles away. She asked that residents attempt to get the closure postponed until the spring so seniors have more time to install a mailbox.
Glenville Supervisor Chris Koetzle said the town supports the effort 100 percent.
“We will do whatever we can to help you win this because this is something that is important to this community, this neighborhood and this town. It makes no sense to me from what I’ve learned,” he said.
Most residents were saddened by the fact that if the branch closes, they would lose their ZIP code.
“Getting a letter from Alplaus when I’m somewhere like Afghanistan means a great deal,” said resident John Shakeshaft, who is in the military. “It almost brings tears to my eyes the thought of losing our ZIP code. The landmarks of our community are the fire house, the post office and the church.”
Esther Miller, 88, also said the transition would be hard since she has had a P.O. box at Alplaus for 53 years and walks to the post office each day from her home on Hill Street. She had her son installed a mailbox just in case, but she refuses to use it.
“It’s part of our community. We’ll fight this,” she said.
