Letter Carriers Moving to Shelburne, Charlotte Post Office Not Closing
by Nancy Wood,
October 6, 2011, page 5.....

Rumors have been spreading about the imminent closing of the Charlotte Post Office, but according to Tom Rizzo, spokesman for the Northern New England District of the U.S. Postal Service, that is not the case.

However, a big change will occur on October 22 when the carrier operation will move to Shelburne. Charlotte letter carriers will no longer work out of the Charlotte office. Rizzo referred to this as part of the nationwide Delivery Unit Optimization (DUO) process, and said it is one of a continuing series of steps the postal service is taking in the name of efficiency. He said that there is no correlation between moving carriers and closing a post office.

Concerns have been raised about closure during the last several weeks. Spin Richardson urged the Selectboard at the October 3 meeting to do something about it, and Shirley Bruce, sister of the late Richard Leboeuf, who owned the post office building, said at the Sidewalk Meeting on September 29 that she was looking into alternative uses for the building.

Rizzo did not have an estimate of the money that would be saved by relocating the letter carriers, and he said that no letter carriers would be let go because of this change.

Rizzo said that there would be no change to the retail services at the Charlotte Post Office. Counter service, purchase of stamps and supplies, hours of operation, post office boxes and other postal services would continue as before. He said that there should be only minimal impact on mail delivery.

Charlotte was not one of the 14 smaller Vermont post offices on the list released in July of 3,700 post offices nationwide that are being studied for closure. According to Rizzo, if a post office were being considered for closure, there would be public notice posted at the office, and local customers such as post office box holders would receive notices in their boxes. He said it takes several months of study, with opportunity for public comment, before a post office is closed.

Questions about closure of the Ferrisburgh and North Ferrisburgh Post Offices, or the relocation of their carriers, have also been raised. Rizzo said there have been no announcements to that effect.

As for possible changes in the future, Rizzo indicated “everything is on the table.” The postal service faces huge financial difficulties, not the least of which is a Congressional mandate, according to Rizzo, that requires the U.S. Postal Service to pay $5.5 billion every year for future retirees – a requirement that no other federal agency must fulfill. Five-day delivery is a change that the service is seeking, he said, as the volume of mail has diminished and is not high enough to justify six-day delivery.