Jason Arndt, jarndt@shawanoleader.com
Cecil residents can help decide the future of their post office at a meeting with U.S. Postal Service representatives July 23.
Residents last month were mailed a survey asking them to choose between maintaining the office with reduced hours, providing delivery service using rural carriers or highway contract routes, seeking out a business within the community to establish a Village Post Office or merging with a nearby post office.
“Most of the time we keep the office open because we don’t like to close them down (entirely),” USPS spokesperson Sean Hargadon said. “We rarely close offices, less than 1 percent.”
Cecil’s post office hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8-10 a.m. Saturday.
A reduction in hours could result in weekday hours being cut by two hours daily, while maintaining Saturday hours.
“The impact will be very small,” Hargadon said. “We are making adjustments based on community needs and desires. We will still be able to provide the same retail sales.”
Village residents will have until July 9 to submit their surveys by mail indicating which of the four options they prefer.
Postal officials will tally results and present the findings to village residents at the meeting July 23. The USPS will make a final decision after the meeting, where residents are encouraged to ask questions and clarify details with Postal Service representatives.
While there are no official records available of how long Cecil has operated a post office, the first postmaster was installed in 1884.
The post office is one of 13,000 rural offices set to be reviewed under the Postal Services’s 2011 realignment program.
The realignment plan was initiated in response to a 50 percent decline in Postal Service revenue since 2004. Postal officials initially planned to close 3,700 of the 13,000 offices in 2011, but most of the closings have been postponed twice in the last three years.
There have been no recent closures of any post offices in Wisconsin under the plan.