Postal sites in 11 Arizona communities - including Mount Lemmon and Bisbee - are being studied for possible closure or conversion to limited-service retail outlets, the U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday.
Other Southern Arizona communities with postal sites under review are the border town of Sasabe and Topawa, on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation.
The sites, mostly smaller rural branches or stations with low mail volume, are among more than 3,500 sites under study nationally as the Postal Service struggles to cope with sagging mail volumes and revenue.
The other Arizona communities with postal sites under review are:
• Blue, in Greenlee County;
• Bullhead City (Highway Station), in Mohave County;
• McNary, on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation;
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• Oatman, in Mohave County;
• Supai, capital of the Havasupai Indian Reservation;
• Valley Farms, between Florence and Coolidge;
• Wikieup, southeast of Kingman.
The Postal Service says many of the offices could be replaced by so-called "village post offices," offering limited postal services in local stores, libraries or government offices.
"They're all under study at this point, but that doesn't necessarily mean these locations will close," said Peter Hass, spokesman for the Postal Service in Phoenix.
Nationwide, the financially troubled Postal Service announced that it will study 3,653 local offices, branches and stations for possible closure. The post office operates 31,871 retail outlets across the country, down from 38,000 a decade ago.
Including such sites and automated postal kiosks, postal services are available at nearly 100,000 locations nationwide, the agency says.
The post office announced in January it was reviewing 1,400 offices for possible closure. So far, 280 have been closed and 200 have finished the review process and will remain open.
Once an office is selected for a review, people served by that office will have 60 days to file their comments. If an office is to be closed, they will be able to appeal to the independent Postal Regulatory Commission.
A public-comment meeting on the closure of Bisbee's Warren postal branch, which is under study, is scheduled for today at the Bisbee Senior Center (see accompanying details).
The Warren branch closed in October and its operations moved to the main Bisbee office.
That closure - stemming from building-safety issues at the property at 319 Arizona St. - is technically temporary but the office is being studied for permanent closure based on low mail volume, Hass said.
Bisbee has one other postal site, the Copper Queen Station in historic downtown.
In Tucson, the Midtown Station at 5401 E. Fifth St. closed in January and its operations were consolidated into the Coronado Station at 255 N. Rosemont Blvd., less than half a mile away.
"We don't get any tax money, we're trying to operate within our means, the best we can," Hass said, noting that mail volume has dropped 20 percent over the last four years.
In addition, the recession resulted in a decline in advertising mail, and the agency lost $8 billion last year.
view the list
For a list of post offices under study for closure or conversion by state, go to: about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/expandedaccess/statelist.htm
Bisbee meeting set
A public-comment meeting on the future of the Warren post office in Bisbee is set for 4 p.m. today at the Bisbee Senior Center, 300 Collins Road.
Written comments may be submitted within a week to Michelle Gleason-USPS, 1135 Broadway Blvd. NE, Room 221, Albuquerque, NM 87101-9321
Contact Assistant Business Editor David Wichner at dwichner@azstarnet.com or 573-4181.