An Early And Unwanted Valentine For Hawleyville Post Office

By Nancy K. Crevier

Instead of hearts and flowers, it will be heartbreak for the staff and customers of Hawleyville Post Office on February 14, St Valentine’s Day. On Friday, January 9, the post office located on Route 25 in Hawleyville received notice from the United States Postal Service that the USPS and the Housatonic Railroad (HRR), the landlord of the building that houses the post office, had not reached an agreement to extend the lease, and would be closed effective the close of business on Saturday, February 14.

The future of the Hawleyville Post Office has been in question for nearly three years, as the USPS has time and again revisited plans to relocate or rebuild the popular post office due to deterioration of the facility and a lack of adequate space. During this time the USPS repeatedly has stated its commitment to keeping the facility open and to accommodate the needs and desires of the people serviced by the Hawleyville location.

An eviction notice served the USPS by Housatonic Railroad this past September ordered the departure of the post office from the building by October 31. That eviction was suspended pending ongoing negotiations for an extension that, according to a press release issued January 9 by the Postal Service District Manager for the Connecticut District, Edward F. Phelan, Jr, failed to materialize. All Hawleyville Post Office business will be serviced by the Newtown Post Office at 5 Commerce Road as of February 17.

Maureen Marion, public affairs spokesperson for the USPS, said on January 9 that the decision to close February 14 allowed the post office a three-day weekend to transfer business from one facility to the other. “There is a lot of material that has to come out of Hawleyville,” said Ms Marion.

“We are working very hard to make a permanent home for the Hawleyville Post Office,” said Ms Marion. “The USPS is truly pursuing the resources available to us to do that. This is not something we entertained lightly,” she said.

In addition to difficulties coming to an agreement with the present landlord, said Ms Marion, the poor state of the United States economy has had a significant impact, very quickly, on the USPS.

It was not just the customers of the Hawleyville Post Office who were caught off guard by last Friday’s announcement from the USPS. Edward Rodriguez, counsel for HRR, was unaware prior to contact by The Bee on January 9 that the post office would be closed. “It’s news to me,” said Mr Rodriguez, who said that so far as he knew, an agreement between the two parties had been reached earlier this winter. “We prepared a written document, and have been told that the USPS is processing it through Washington and hoping to get it back to us. We have not received the signed agreement back, though,” he said. Mr Rodriguez also noted that the USPS had told HRR that it was interested in a long-term agreement and had asked the railroad to look into renovations to the facility.

As recently as this past week, said Mark Faval, postmaster at Hawleyville, he gave a tour of the building to a Housatonic Railroad official concerning upcoming renovations. The decision to close the facility came as a bit of a surprise. “We were called together early this morning [January 9] and told that February 14 would be our last day,” he said. “In the back of our minds, I guess we knew it was kind of inevitable that they would close this facility,” said Mr Faval. “This time, I don’t think that there will be a reprieve,” he said. Statistics for postal closures are not comforting, added Mr Faval. According to the National Association of Postal Supervisors, he said, 98 percent of post offices closed on a temporary basis never reopen.

Hawleyville Post Office customers will retain the same mailing address, but post office boxes and mail pickup will be at the Newtown office on Commerce Road. “Our customers will be assigned a post office box there with the same Hawleyville Post Office number,” said Mr Faval. Because the mailing addresses will still be Hawleyville, the cost of a post office box in Newtown will not increase for Hawleyville customers, he added.

The move is designed to be short-term, according to Ms Marion, but what that means to the public could be very different from what it means to the USPS. The USPS has repeatedly denied dragging its feet on resolving the matter of the Hawleyville Post Office, even though it has been three years since the issue became a community matter. In terms of capital budgeting, the USPS works two to three years out, explained Ms Marion, even on simple matters such as lease renewal.

“I don’t want to build a false hope [about finding a permanent home for the Hawleyville Post Office],” she said, “because there are economic pressures for the USPS and others in the area. But we are aggressively pursuing approval for funding. [The closing of Hawleyville Post Office] doesn’t change our commitment to Hawleyville, but the economic factors have influenced our ability to negotiate.”

A press release issued on January 12 by the Housatonic Railroad outlines the railroad’s efforts over the years to retain the USPS as a lessee at the Route 25 location. Following an early 2008 agreement in principle to follow through on a 2006 arrangement to construct a new facility at the present site, the railroad failed “to receive responses to its calls and correspondence.” It was at this juncture that HRR issued the September eviction notice.

“Housatonic Railroad offered to assist the USPS in transition to a new facility or to rehabilitate the existing facility, even allowing the service to remain in place at a significantly below market rent as a show of good faith,” the press release stated. “Most recently, Housatonic thought agreement had been reached on the terms of an interim lease which would permit the post office to remain in the existing facility until a final decision on the future of the facility had been reached.

“The railroad is surprised and disappointed at the USPS decision [to close the Hawleyville Post Office]. The post office is an important loss to the Hawleyville community,” noted the release.

When asked about the discrepancy in how HRR perceived ongoing negotiations and the USPS decision to close the facility, Ms Marion said that HRR agreement and Route 25 space was never seen as a permanent situation. “It is not so much the agreement on construction, but the fact that it is month-to-month that is a problem,” said Ms Marion on Monday, January 12.

“The decision [to close the Hawleyville Post Office] focused on month-to-month at this point,” she said. “It became apparent to us that the month-to-month lease agreement was no longer something the USPS could do, with all due respect to business decisions of the USPS and HRR. We have to make decisions that are appropriate to the USPS and its customers,” said Ms Marion, explaining that the USPS looks at the customer base as a whole, not just on the local level. “We have to look at the whole realty package that comes with a leased agreement of a public facility. If it’s not a good package completely, we can’t put customers of the USPS as a whole at risk,” she said.

She added that she was not aware of any proposed agreement between the USPS that HRR awaiting a signature, and that she would look into it. “An agreement for a long-term lease had not even come up yet. The month-to-month was the sticking point,” said Ms Marion. “You can’t overlook that we had been evicted.”

Local developer Steve Nicolosi, who is erecting a retail space building on Barnabas Road off of Route 25, said this week that he remains somewhat hopeful that the USPS will rent space for the Hawleyville Post Office there. He has been in negotiations with the USPS for months, has accommodated special needs requested by the USPS, but still awaits a signed agreement. During the holiday season, said Mr Nicolosi, he received two phone calls from James Hickey of the Connecticut USPS requesting information to update the paperwork and wondering if Mr Nicolosi’s building was still on schedule.

“I was told, indirectly, that there is a spending freeze. They are looking for a special exception to get the lease approved,” said Mr Nicolosi. Earlier this year, he was told by USPS officials that those exceptions would be one of three things: safety concerns at the present site of the post office; political reasons; or loss of the lease. “This post office actually meets all three criteria,” said Mr Nicolosi, “but I guess the US Postal Service just moves very slowly.”

Because the USPS had selected the prime location in his building as a prospective facility, Mr Nicolosi said that he would continue to build out the framing to accommodate dock doors for a postal space. “Anyone else who wants that space will have to be a business with longevity. I’ll rent the rest of the building before [the space I am holding for the post office], unless it is a business with teeth,” he said. “There’s still a glimmer of hope.”

On Monday, the mood at the post office was somber, as customers who had had the weekend to digest the news commiserated with each other and the staff.

Closing the Hawleyville location is a case of the government simply looking to save money, said Frank Fuchs, who has used the Route 25 post office for more than 30 years. “And you know what that means: it’s going to cost us lots more.” Mr Fuchs is unhappy that he will be patronizing the Newtown branch on Commerce Road. “That office was poorly designed,” he said.

Janie Campbell of Brookfield collected mail from her postal box on Monday morning, and said that she and her husband were unhappy to hear about the imminent closing of the location. “We have been using this post office for 20 years, including for my husband’s business,” she said. “It’s distressing that we now will have to drive 12 miles to get all of our mailings, many of which are international, every day,” said Ms Campbell.

The Campbells prefer the atmosphere, convenience, and impeccable service of the Hawleyville Post Office to the Brookfield branch, said Ms Campbell. “I can’t say enough good things [about the Hawleyville Post Office]. We’re devastated, personally and professionally,” she said.

Erin Lutz of Newtown and Peter Strange of Danbury also expressed dismay that the post office on which they have relied for several years is to be closed. Both cited the excellent service as one of many reasons they have gone out of their ways to use this particular post office branch. “I’m completely upset,” said Ms Lutz.