Dalton Drive Neighborhood Association

Dalton Drive & US Postal Service

Alas, it seems that the Dalton Drive Neighborhood Association is faced with the prospect of the US Postal Service insisting on the ugly silver boxes to replace the letter carriers hand delivering mail to boxes conveniently located near each unit. Basically, the Postal Service wants to have a central location for all of the mail delivery for our 77 units.

Sigh...I do love having the mail delivered to a mailbox in the foyer of our building protected from the elements. Retreiving your mail wearing shorts & a t-shirt is quite comfortable even in the winter. However, that era is waning. The era of home delivery of our mail to our actual home is in its twilight.

I do not feel that this is a fight that we can necessary win nor perhaps should we win. The cost of mail delivery is increasing along with the pressure on the USPS to drive their costs down. Letter carrier safety is an issue given our icy and often snow covered walkways.

Perhaps, there is a compromise. We certainly do not want to lose the battle completely and have to place the delivery boxes at one end with DDNA bearing the entire project cost. In the past, the USPS has offered to purchase these boxes if we move quickly to this type of mail delivery. I suggest that we locate all of the boxes in a central location covered by a roof, The Garages That We Own. These aggregated mailboxes would be protected from the elements, centrally located with respect to the unit owners and should be easy to maintain a clear path during the winter months.

As usual, your comments are welcome.

posted by JohnCVermont @ 6:48 PM