Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
The United States Postal Service has reduced the hours of another Pocahontas County Post Office, at Green Bank.
In January, Dunmore Post Office reduced its hours to four hours, five days a week. At a public meeting November 19, Green Bank residents were informed that the post office will be reduced to six hours.
Due to USPS financial struggles, the service has been looking for ways to increase revenue and cut costs.
“We took a very hard look at everything and put together a five-year comprehensive strategic business plan that allows us to remain viable for generations to come,” Post Office Operations Manager David Hamrick said. “One of the areas we looked at was our retail network. We saw we could adjust our retail hours to match actual customer usage, thus saving money but still providing mail service to our customers.”
The Green Bank Post Office serves 710 customers and 224 responded to the survey sent out by the USPS.
Green Bank resident Rick Wooddell said the biggest concern of those attending the meeting was in regards to the new Village Post Office at Deer Creek Supply.
“The big question was, why did they open the volunteer post office when they’re reducing Green Bank and Dunmore hours,” he said. “That decision was made above their pay grade and it was made prior to all of these mail outs that went to postal customers.”
The utilization of Village Post Offices is part of the Post Plan created by the USPS. Other options include: keep the office open with realigned weekday window hours, conduct a discontinuance study and provide roadside mailbox delivery, conduct a discontinuance study and provide PO box service via another nearby post office.
Hamrick explained that if the usage of Green Bank Post Office increases, the hours may also increase. The reverse may happen if usage continues to decline. He added that Green Bank will benefit from the usage of the VPO at Deer Creek Supply. All business done at the VPO will be counted as use of the Green Bank Post Office.
The Green Bank Post Office hours will be Monday through Friday, 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The office will be closed from noon to 2 p.m. weekdays for lunch.
Suzanne Stewart may be contacted at sastewart@pocahontastimes.com