By Jeanne Sager
JEFFERSONVILLE — February 13, 2004 – Renovations at the Jeffersonville Post Office have met with mixed reviews from local residents.
The facility, nestled in a corner of Eddie’s Famous Foods on Main Street in the village, has been undergoing renovations to better utilize space in its small office.
But a letter sent out a few weeks ago informing some residents that they would have to change their box numbers was met with different opinions.
“It’s a load of crap,” said one woman who asked not to be identified.
When the patron went to get her mail on Wednesday at the Jeff office, she was told that some of the new boxes are different sizes from those that carried patrons’ numbers before.
To keep her box, this lady was told she would have to pay extra because her number was now assigned to a medium-sized box.
She was offered a chance to switch numbers for the same price she is currently paying.
The Town of Callicoon is currently facing the same problem. P.O. Box 427 was a larger-sized box that the town used to handle its high flow of mail.
But P.O. Box 427 is now a small box, and the town’s bookkeeper, Joe Anne Baker, was told that they’d need to change numbers to keep a larger box.
Baker said they were not required to change, but the post office suggested that the small box they’ve been assigned would not be large enough to accommodate all of the town’s mail.
But the Town Board was concerned when they learned of the need to change things over.
“It’s bad enough being an individual, but for a municipality this is a real hardship,” said Supervisor Gregg Semenetz.
Not only would the town have to print all new stationary, but every town resident would have to be informed of the address change.
“The Town of Callicoon wishes to keep our number due to the inconvenience it would be on our constituents,” Semenetz said.
There were some residents, however, who were unconcerned by the change.
Brandy Leonardo has had the same box number for seven years. She was offered a chance to pick a new box number or have one assigned by the post office.
And she said she really didn’t mind.
“Whatever,” Leonardo said. “Change is good.”
Three Chocolateers owner Kris Schluer said the post office will be forwarding the mail for up to a year, which was her only concern when she heard about the switchovers.
The Main Street shopowner said she’s lucky because most of her labels and business cards only say “Main Street, Jeffersonville, NY” and don’t list her post office box number.
Post Office spokesperson Tony Musso said the postal service is trying to work with individuals and businesses to make the changeover as smooth as possible. The year of forwarding is being offered to everyone, not just the businesses, he said.
“We understand it’s going to cause an inconvenience, but we’re hoping one year will give them the chance to use up their stationery and everything,” Musso noted.
The changes have been done to make the post office run more efficiently, he said, and provide better service to the customers.
“More and more in the post office, mail isn’t touched by human hands,” Musso explained.
If the boxes are in order, it makes it easier for the mail to be sorted.
Musso said the Jeffersonville postmaster has not had many issues, but the postal workers are trying to help people make a smooth transition.
The change did add boxes to the post office – they went from having 637 to 760.
“That’s part of the reason we’re doing this, because more people wanted boxes,” Musso explained.
Out of that 637, about 100 people are changing their address.