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2 Valley post offices on list for possible closure
By Karl Henkel
and Joe Giesy
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning Valley was nearly unscathed on the U.S. Postal Service’s list of possible retail-office closures.
USPS selected just two — Youngstown’s north branch and the Calcutta office in East Liverpool — for a study to determine whether the offices should stay open, consolidate or close.
Victor Dubina of the postal service said 20 people, including mail carriers, work at the north branch at 1716 Guadalupe Ave.
The possible closure upset some residents.
“It would take a lot more time out of my day to go somewhere else,” said Richard Pangborn, 61, of Youngstown, who owns Buyrite Muffler Shop on nearby Belmont Avenue.
If closed, the Youngstown carriers would be reassigned to another location, likely the city’s main offices.
Karen Stanford, of Youngstown, says there often is too much traffic and never any good places to park near the downtown office.
“It would take away all our convenience,” she said.
The postal service closed Youngstown’s South and East Side centers earlier this year.
Cornersburg and the West Side location are the other remaining facilities.
The list was based on workload, customers and possible consolidations with nearby facilities.
Most of the 3,653 facilities slated for possible closure make less than $27,500 in annual revenue and have less than two hours of daily work. The remainder make less than $1 million but have five or more facilities within two miles or are currently suspended.
Once facilities are selected for review, customers will have 60 days to comment.
The post offices slated for possible closure likely wouldn’t be on the chopping block until at least the end of the year.
Instead of retail locations, the postal service plans to work with third-party retailers such as pharmacies and grocery stores to provide postal products.
It’s the second area postal facility slated for a study in two weeks.
Last week, the postal service announced the Youngstown processing and distribution facilities, which employ nearly 500, could be merged with similar facilities in Akron or Cleveland.
If that happened, it would be a significant blow to the region, which on Tuesday saw its unemployment rate climb to 10 percent. David Bozanich, city finance director, said the loss of that many jobs could result in a $500,000 reduction in city income taxes.
The postal service has 31,000 locations throughout the United States, 7,000 fewer than it had a decade ago.
Last year, it lost $8 billion. The postal service does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses.