Post Office Suddenly Shut Down
By Molly KelleherBICKLETON - Folks in small farming community just south of Mabton have turned to Action News for help. MultimediaThey're upset because their lone post office shut down -- they say without warning. The U.S. Postal Service told us it's a health hazard. Now there's concern that a new one is still months away. Action News is getting to the bottom of it by going to the top. Bickleton only has about 200 people if you count residents in the outlying county. So in a town this size imagine our surprise when about 50 people showed up because they heard Action News was in town. They told Action News they're here to send a message: They want their post office back. "It happened overnight. We got absolutely no warning," said Pat Nygaard. This all started when a building inspection turned up big problems. Action News asked for the report from the Postal Service. Here's what it says: "The building is no longer safe for the public or the employees. The numerous structural problems with the floor ... a sudden shift off of the foundation could cause the structure to collapse." Action News asked former postmasters how long have they known about this? "Nineteen years,” said Janet Mains. “This is not a situation that developed overnight." After hearing from folks in Bickleton, Action News took the concerns to the top to the folks in charge out of Spokane. We were told there will be a post office in Bickleton again. The question now is, when? "They said three weeks, now it's been three months," said Nygaard. For three months people here have been driving 25 miles to Roosevelt -- that's 50 miles round trip. Folks here want to know there's an end in sight, but all they've gotten is a letter. No town meetings and that's part of the concern here. So they called Action News for help. Action News found out the Postal Service has put in for an emergency request for funding and the first part has been approved. All funding hurdles are expected to be cleared by August. That could mean a new post office would be open in September. Action News was told the Postal Service has found two or three existing buildings in town that would work. Until then, it's more waiting and more driving just to get their mail. One idea that people in Bickleton are asking for is temporary boxes in town. Action News asked about that and Postal Service representatives said that would be a contract with a carrier and it's difficult to add stops. But they say if Bickleton goes longer than expected without a post office they would try to do that. |
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