The Postal Service has slated the Clarksville Post Office for closure, an event that could happen as soon as the end of October.
The USPS noticed the decision on Aug. 23, which triggered a 30-day appeal period. After that, the Postal Regulatory Commission would have 30 days to notify the Postal Service of any appeals that have been filed that would stop or delay the closure.
Should the office be shuttered, service would be transferred to the post office in Feura Bush off of Route 32, which is about five miles away.
The Clarksville Post Office fell under a larger study assessing the hundreds of postal branches in the Albany District, which stretches north to the Canadian border. The decision was made for several reasons, according to Postal Service Spokeswoman Maureen Marion, among them the relatively little businesses that occurs there.
“The retail window in Clarksville averaged 31 transactions a day, which averaged to be about 31 minutes of work,” Marion said. “When you have an office that is staffed for 8 hours a day, 31 minutes is a really difficult thing to balance as appropriate.”
That generally indicates there’s a lot of stamp sales at the window, Marion continued, a transaction the Postal Service has been endeavoring to make available at locations others than the post office.
The office was also without a postmaster since March of 2010, and there is a single employee working at the branch.
Owners of the branch’s 214 post office boxes will have the option of relocating their box to the Feura Bush branch, and can keep their address. Marion advised anyone considering a switch to streetside delivery to research the matter before the seasons turn and the ground hardens, potentially making the installation of a mailbox problematic.
Anyone with questions about their specific situation is advised to contact the Feura Bush office at 439-2497.
Persons wishing to make an appeal must be served by the Clarksville Post Office. Appeals may be made to the Postal Regulatory Commission through Sept. 24 by mailing to 901 New York Avenue Northwest, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20268.
The Commission may also be found on the web at prc.gov.
