Fighting the post office pays off for seniors

Sparta - They stood up for what they thought was right and won. The seniors at the Knoll Heights residential complex were victorious when fighting the United States Post Office regarding placing cluster mailboxes and eliminating door to door delivery in their community. Arthur Williams, an 82-year-old resident, spearheaded a petition against the cluster mailboxes because the members of the community would have a difficult time getting their mail. He said it may seem like a small issue but it had a major impact on the residents. “There are so many people disabled here that you couldn’t think of a worse idea,” he said. “It was a very important issue to us. Everybody here is elated now.” The projected deadline was Dec. 4 and was underway when a construction representative brought in a backhoe and started digging. He inadvertently hit a cable line which took out services to the majority of the complex, Williams said. At that point, Linda Pinto, the manager of the property, removed workers from the premises. She said representatives from the post office did not contact her prior to digging holes in preparation of pouring the concrete for the boxes. The inception of the project was a response to the numerous complaints from residents and the staff office regarding the inefficiency of mail delivery, she said. “It was in response to people’s complaints about irregular mail delivery,” she said. “I had the post master from Sparta here to understand what the problem was. It just didn’t get settled. The district manager and postmaster said that they were going to install cluster boxes and that it would solve the delay and guarantee mail would be delivered by noon.” She informed the postmaster that the residents would not respond well to the idea because Knoll Heights is a senior community, but the postmaster said the transition would be made easy, she said. George Flood, a spokesperson for the post office, said the project stemmed from complaints within the community but when they determined that the construction of cluster boxes was not a feasible or positive option, they canceled the project. “The property owner said they did not want to go forward,” he said. “The negative feedback is what drives the decision. They would prefer the other way, and the property owner withdrew the support of the project. That’s the key part of the puzzle. It’s canceled. It’s done.” Pinto gave credit to the seniors who petitioned against the project and the support they received from the town council and other government officials. Williams said resident Phoebe Rude was the one who initiated the petition and collected more than 75 signatures on her own. “The residents here deserve all of the credit,” Pinto said. “They’ve taken seriously their God given right to free speech and have exercised what all Americans cherish - and were successful.”