Post office address rules cause grief Postmaster said she is enforcing regulations that already existed BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer FARRAH MAFFAI staff Lorraine Hirtelen, postmaster of the Roosevelt post office, at work last week. ROOSEVELT — If you are going to mail something to someone in Roosevelt, don’t put the post office box number in the ZIP code, or you will get it back. Officials announced at the Aug. 2 Borough Council meeting that many residents are unhappy with the Roosevelt postal service. Roosevelt citizens do not have mail delivery at their homes, but instead pick up their mail at the small post office. Since the town’s inception in the 1930s, the post office has been considered a focal point of the community, and a way to socialize with neighbors. According to Councilman Michael Hamilton, mail is being returned to the sender if the post office box is provided but is in the wrong place. FARRAH MAFFAI staff A resident exits the Roosevelt post office last week. "Something is going on, where if the article is not addressed on the second line to the post office box number, it’s returned to the sender," Hamilton said. "Even if the post office box number is on the article in the ZIP code, it’s being sent back," he continued. "The post office is saying [the number] must be on the second line." Councilwoman Pat Moser observed that the sender must then pay twice to mail the item. Hamilton said that he had a priority mail item sent to him, and when it arrived at the post office two days later, it was returned. He finally got his priority article eight days after placing the order. Hamilton, who has an Internet-based business, stated that he would not use the post office for shipping because of this problem, adding that he has also heard complaints from residents about not receiving paychecks and other essential mail. "There’s been a lot of dissension and hardship over this," he said. Hamilton stated that the post office’s decision to return articles makes no sense. "It’s a waste of resources and manpower," he said. Mayor Neil Marko recounted a situation where a borough letter to a resident, in an official borough envelope, was returned. That particular letter never left the borough in the course of its mail odyssey. Postmaster Lorraine Hirtelen later confirmed that any mail sent to a street address will be returned, since the post office has no way of knowing what street address corresponds with which post office box number. "If the post office box [number] is in the delivery line and not in the ZIP code, it will be delivered," she said. Hirtelen added that if the post office box number is listed after the ZIP code, commonly known as "ZIP plus four," it would be returned to the sender. According to Hirtelen, the post office receives too much mail to have to search for the number. "After [the mail] gets here [the ZIP code line] is irrelevant," she said. "We sort so much mail, we don’t read the whole address. We get 20,000 pieces of mail per week, and that’s on a slow week." Hirtelen said that putting the number on the second line is a standard way to address mail — and a longtime federal postal regulation. She decided to strictly enforce the rule, she continued, because it makes it easier for staff to sort the mail. To give residents adequate notice, she sent them a letter in November, with a July enforcement. Marko said the borough may consider other options. "If [the post office] is going to play these games, we want delivery," he stated. "I think the borough has put up with a lot from the post office." He noted that residents have also complained about new hours on Saturday. According to Hirtelen, the hours have always been 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., but the previous postmaster — who lived in the borough — would often keep the building open later on Saturday. After the post office suffered a break-in three and a half years ago, she explained, the postal inspector deemed that the building must be closed when no postal workers are present. Hirtelen told the Examiner to contact a media representative to find out more about this regulation, but repeated telephone calls to the number she provided were not returned.