Residents start petitions as Postal Service plans national review on consolidating branches

Photo by Sefton Ipock

Heather Ashley and other students at the Carolina College of Hair Design started a petition to save the U.S. Post Office next door to the school in the Market Place shopping center.

Photo by Sefton Ipock

Kathy Mell says she frequently uses the U.S. Post Office in the Market Place shopping center and would be inconvienenced if it closed.

ANDERSON — For Kathy Mell of Anderson, visiting the North Anderson Branch Post Office on Clemson Boulevard is easy, especially because she works in the area.

But because the United States Postal Service has lost revenue in the recession, all post offices and post office branches are up for a national review to determine if they will be consolidated.

The North Anderson Branch is one of those being considered for consolidation. Postal officials say no decisions have been made.

“It’d be really inconvenient if it closed,” Mell said. “A lot of people have P.O. boxes here, and a lot of businesses use it too.”

She said the branch is in a highly populated area that’s always busy.

“I’ve never come in here and just been the only one,” she said.

Homer Smith of Anderson said he uses that particular post office once a month, but it would also be inconvenient for him if it were closed.

“I like to pay my bills on the first of each month in the post office itself rather than dropping it off somewhere,” Smith said. “It’s safer that way. I’d hate to see it close.”

People in the community are responding with petitions. One of the petitions was started by the Carolina College of Hair Design, which is next door to the post office.

Heather Ashley is a student at the college. As people walk through the door at the school, she asks them to sign the petition.

“We decided to start a petition because people come in and out of the post office, and that’s how they hear about us,” Ashley said. “We’re a beauty school, and if that closes people will start going downtown instead of here.”

Whitney Miller is also a student at the college.

“People come by and say, ‘Oh, y’all do hair?’ ” she said. “It brings our business in.”

But the North Anderson post office branch isn’t set to be closed, said Bill Johnson, Anderson’s postmaster.

“We told them the stations are being reviewed just like they all are nationally for consolidation,” Johnson said. “No decisions have been made.”

Harry Spratlin, the district community coordinator for the Greater South Carolina Post Office District, said the United States Postal Service is considering consolidation because of lowered revenues and mail use.

In the pre-Internet days and even up to 2007, Spratlin said, mail volume was high. It peaked in 2007 at 212 billion pieces of mail, but in 2008 it was 203 billion, and this year is expected to be 187 billion.

“We lost considerable mail volume to the recession of last year,” he said. “We don’t receive tax subsidies. What we’re doing is matching our resources to work load.”

But consolidation is still just an option, he said, and it’s still in the early stages.

“We’re just now starting out and the decisions won’t be made until Oct. 1,” he said. “There’s definitely a process that we have to go through with everyone, and there’s a whole lot of criteria. We’re going to notify the community and let them have their input.”

P.O. box customers would also be notified before any action was taken, he said.

The Postal Service has set up a community meeting at 7 p.m. July 23 at the main branch of the Anderson County Library. At the meeting, residents can voice their concerns about the potential consolidation.

Spratlin said the Postal Service deals with 46 percent of the world’s mail.

“Our role is changing,” he said. “We’re run like a business now … And we’re subjected to economic pressures just like all businesses. We still continue to be proud of our business, and we’ve had the highest service scores in our history.”