43
Cornersburg Post Office move proposed
YOUNGSTOWN
The U.S. Postal Service proposes to move and drastically scale down its Cornersburg Station.
The plan calls for relocating Cornersburg letter carriers to the downtown post office and limiting the replacement post office to retail counter and post-office box operations.
Youngstown Postmaster Tom Kerns and Marla J. Larsen-Williams, a Bloomingdale, Ill.-based postal real-estate specialist, will explain the proposed changes at Youngstown City Council’s meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in city hall, 26 S. Phelps St.
The move is designed to “maximize the current USPS real-estate portfolio and our current operations network,” according to David VanAllen, a Cleveland-based postal spokesman.
Faced with declining mail volumes and “unsustainable deficits,” the post office must “find ways to reduce cost, increase efficiencies and sustain its viability,” and it is “engaged in a national re-evaluation of its facilities,” the post office said in a news release announcing the proposed change.
Van Allen said customer transaction volume has declined about 1 percent annually over the last three years at the Cornersburg Station.
“I just want to make sure that services don’t suffer” because of the move, said Councilman Paul Drennen, D-5th. The station is in his ward.
Drennen said he understands the post office’s motivation to scale back and economize, but he would prefer the Cornersburg Post Office stay in its current location.
“They’re busy all the time,” he said of Cornersburg postal clerks, adding that 10 customers have stood in line ahead of him on several recent occasions.
The current location is convenient and has plenty of parking, Drennen said, adding that he wants to meet with postal officials to discuss keeping the post office in its current location, as well as potential alternative sites.
Henry Gomez, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 385, which represents Youngstown’s letter carriers, could not be reached to comment.
Since Aug. 1, 1980, the Cornersburg Post Office has been in its 7,800-square-foot shopping plaza location at 3375 Canfield Road, where it pays $77,286 in annual rent to Shutrump United Enterprises Inc. Its lease there expires Sept. 29.
In a new location, the post office seeks to rent 1,200 square feet in a facility with a loading dock, 10 customer parking spaces and three parking spaces for postal employees.
The post office said the new facility will be within the same ZIP code, 44511, and that it seeks a new site in an area bounded by Susan Circle, Orlando Drive, McCarty Drive and South Schenley Avenue.
The post office said the move would not affect mail delivery, and that there would be no change to post office box numbers or ZIP codes.
Written comments will be accepted until Feb. 20 and should be sent to: Marla J. Larsen-Williams, real-estate specialist, U.S. Postal Service, Great Lakes Facilities Service Office, 62 Stratford Drive, Bloomingdale, IL 60117-7000.