Granville Post Offices not on study list

The United State Postal Service announced an expanded study list on Tuesday and no Granville offices were on that list.

The 3,653-location study list does not indicate the sites will be closed according to officials, but means they will be examined for potential closure, based on announced performance criteria for possible closure.

Post Master General Patrick R. Donahoe made official at a press conference July 26 what had been anticipated for weeks as news of closings and studies have been in the news. Locally the closure of the South Glens Falls Post Office had been announced as Sept. 9.

Workers at all three Granville sites Middle, North and Main Street said they had received no advance notice and did not expect to be on the study list.

Granville Officer in Charge (OIC) Tom Williams confirmed none of the offices had been alerted as to making the study list for potential closure. “We haven’t heard anything, nothing at all,” Williams said.

None of those listed for study in the new list fall within Washington County, however, the Clemons Post Office is already under study as part of a previous list.

Officials with the Post Office said the Clemons site was going to be studied for an additional 120 days after being studied previously for 60 days.

The primary reasons the office is being studied for closure are the postmaster position has been vacant since February of 2010 and the office has experienced a low volume of business.

According to the study, the retail window averaged eight transactions per day, accounting for approximately eight hours of retail workload daily.

Between postmaster salary and benefits, and annual lease costs, the office cost the postal service $49,079, although the office took in just $15, 187 in the 2008 fiscal year; $14,607 in the 2009 fiscal year; and $12,431 in 2010.

After factoring in the cost of replacement service, officials concluded that they could save $44,941 annually. The post office in Clemons is one of two in the township of Dresden, the other being in Huletts Landing.

Copies of the closure proposal are available at the Clemons, Huletts Landing and Whitehall Post Offices.

In the face of mounting losses the Post Office announced the study of 3,653 locations across the country.

The largest group to be examined, 3,061 locations, makes less than $27,500 a year and requires less than two hours per day work to operate.

Next on the list are 385 sites which make less than $600,000 and have five or more points of access within two miles.

The third of four groups, 188 locations, brings in less than $1 million annually and has five or more access points within a half mile.

The final group is 19 locations where operations are already suspended. 

The closest location on the newly released list is Weavertown, north of Warrensburg in Warren County.

According to published reports the USPS lost $8.5 billion in fiscal 2010 after losing $3.8 billion in 2009.

The Post Office said mail volume dropped by 43.1 billion pieces over the past five years and annual office visits have dropped by 200 million as well as retail transactions dropping off by $2 billion. 

Additional reporting by Derek Liebig