Post office officials are hearing this week from members of the Waynesburg and McKinney communities about plans to scale back the number of hours their rural post offices are open for business.
The United States Postal Service announced in May plans to reduce hours of operation for retail windows at about 13,000 small post offices, including 421 post offices in Kentucky.
The Waynesburg post office’s retail window would be open six hours a day, and McKinney’s would be open two hours a day under the plan. Both locations currently are open eight hours a day.
The plan also calls for a reduction in retail window hours at the Kings Mountain post office from eight to four hours a day, but Kings Mountain Postmaster Richie Richey said that plan won’t take effect for another two years.
Waynesburg and McKinney customers have received surveys in the mail asking them about their post-office use and announcing public meetings to discuss the proposed cutbacks.
McKinney’s public meeting was Wednesday at the McKinney post office. Waynesburg’s public meeting is scheduled for noon Friday at Double Springs Baptist Church’s fellowship hall.
Richey said the meetings are part of the postal service’s effort to determine which hours would be best to be open in each community. The plan to reduce hours at small post offices is an effort to avoid closing them entirely, according to a press release.
While retail window hours will be reduced, P.O. box and retail lobby access will not be affected. And by keeping small post offices open, small communities can keep the zip codes that are part of their local identity, according to the press release.
The reduction in retail window hours is expected to be completed nationwide by 2014, saving the financially failing postal service an estimated $500 million annually.
“The post office’s design is that it will still be there for customers,” Richey said. “It’s a way to keep these small post offices open and serving customers.”
