Petersburg assembly decides not to seek home mail delivery

The Petersburg Borough Assembly has decided not to request home mail delivery. Assembly members on Dec. 20 defeated a resolution that would have asked the U.S. Postal Service to send carriers around town delivering mail, giving residents and businesses an option instead of requiring everyone to pick up letters and parcels at the post office.

The resolution had been presented as a possible solution to ongoing issues at the short-staffed post office, which has seen long wait times for package pickup and reduced hours at the customer service window.

Assemblymember Dave Kensinger, who introduced the measure on Dec. 6, said he brought forward the resolution because of the time people and businesses are having to spend waiting for packages. He also said he has been frustrated with the lack of communication from USPS officials in Anchorage and hoped the resolution would get their attention.

“It’s pretty obvious that they don’t value our time ... and we’re paying a pretty heavy price,” Kensinger said at the Dec. 20 assembly meeting.

The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce supported home delivery.

Though Assemblymember Chelsea Tremblay agreed with many of the statements in the resolution, she said she could not support it as it seemed more like a negotiating tactic than a solution.

Kensinger said one goal of the resolution was to start a formal process to get attention from the USPS on the national level.

“My goal in this is to kick this up the chain ... we have to start a formalized process if we want to see any improvements in the post office,” he said.

 

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