• About 75 residents and business owners show up at meeting with postal employe last week to share their concerns
By J.O. PARKER
joparker@dmreg.com
What’s going on in Barnes City and other small towns across Iowa is no “Field of Dreams.”
It’s more like “Nightmare on Elm Street,” or in the case of Barnes City – “Nightmare at 610 Spruce St.”
Barnes City, a community of about 200 in northeast Mahaska County eight miles south of Montezuma, is one of about 80 Iowa towns slated to lose its post office.
Barbara Davis, right, a Barnes City resident and council member, visits with postal representative Lisa Carver with the Hawkeye District after a town meeting in Barnes City on June 23 to discuss the possible closing of the town post office. Carver said the main reason Barnes City is being targeted for closure is the town has not had a sitting postmaster since May 1, 2009. If the post office closes it will be replaced with a cluster box and/or rural mailboxes or a combination of both.
The first phase of that process took place at a community meeting between residents and postal employees on Thursday evening, June 23.
About 75 community members and business owners filled the Betterment Club Quonset, the town gathering place usually reserved for parties and other functions, to discuss the issue with postal employees.
Many expressed their displeasure in the possible closing. Some argued the importance of the post office. Others expressed concerns about the quality of service. Others were concerned they may have to drive to Montezuma or New Sharon to mail packages and purchase stamps. Another was concerned with mailing a large quantity of packages.
Dennis De Nooy, owner of Front Street Mfg., Inc., a Barnes City company that specializes in gutter and downspout accessories, said he has shipped out 1,500 priority mail packages since the first of the year. He said he was concerned that a rural carrier would not be able handle his mail load, and that it was important that his mail go out on time.
“My business is very important for timely shipping,” De Nooy said.
Lisa Carver, a postal representative with the Hawkeye District, assured De Nooy and Barnes City residents that they would continue to receive mail delivery and pick up service in town in a timely fashion. She said mail would be delivered by a rural mail carrier to a cluster box and/or rural mailboxes or a combination of both.
She said people would be able to purchase stamps and postal money orders through the rural mail carrier. She said the town would not lose it’s zip code.
“We are about providing efficient and effective service,” Carver told those in attendance. “In the long run it’s going to save money.”
Carver cited four reasons the postal service has named Barnes City for possible closure.
• Minimal growth in the community
• Decline in workload at the town post office
• Revenue generated by the post office has declined
• No postmaster
“The main deciding factor is no sitting postmaster,” Carver said.
The last official Barnes City Postmaster was Karen Calvert, who retired on May 1, 2009. A temporary postmaster has maintained the office since Calvert retired.
“The post office is not putting postmasters in,” Carver told the gathering.
She said the cluster box, should it be installed, would be under the direction of the Montezuma Post Office as would mail delivery service. She said they would be in charge of keeping the snow plowed and grass moved around the freestanding unit. There is no charge for people to use the cluster box.
“I don’t see how they are going to save money,” said Barbara Davis, a Barnes City resident and council member.
Davis said the post office is more than just a place to mail letters and packages; it’s the town community center.
“People go in there and get their mail and socialize,” Davis said. “The students use it while waiting for the school bus.”
Meeting attendees were asked to fill out a questionnaire and make comments. Carver said the comments and notes from the meeting would be sent to the postal service in Washington D.C. for further review.
“This is a study (for discontinuance),” Carver said of the meeting.
She said a final decision has not been made.
Should the postal service move forward with closing the town post office, Carver said the process would take from seven to nine months.
Barnes City Mayor Gordon Lindblom said several town residents have talked with legislators and are trying to do something to stop the closing.
“We sure don’t need to get rid of our post office,” said Lindblom. “We’ve got a half-a-million dollar sewer going in town and we sure hate to see the post office close.”
“Our town is getting smaller and now we are going to lose another building and business,” added Davis. “The bottom line is we don’t won’t to lose it.”
“It’s change and nobody likes it,” said Carver.
The postal service continues to accept comments regarding the possible closing of the Barnes City Post Office. They may be sent to:
Hawkeye District
Consumer Affairs
7900 Hickman Road
Des Moines, Iowa 50324-4400.
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