DECATUR — The United States Postal Service is asking for community input to help determine the future of the Decatur Post Office, according to a letter sent to Decatur mail customers on Thursday.

The USPS is offering the choices of keeping Decatur’s post office open with reduced office hours, opening a “Village Post Office” operated by a local business, or having its post office closed and services available in a nearby town.

The decisions are part of the USPS plan to keep rural post offices open while helping the organization save money and achieve financial stability, according to a press release.

Decatur is one of nearly 400 Arkansas post offices facing similar options, according to a list posted on the USPS website. Other local post offices on the list included Hiwasse, Maysville and Sulphur Springs.

The letter sent to Decatur residents, accompanied by a survey, explains there are four options open to the Decatur Post Office.

◊The office hours couldbe reduced to six hours a day on weekdays and keep its usual operating hours on Saturday.

◊Conduct a “discontinuance study” for the office and provide only roadside mailbox delivery. Retail and delivery service would still be provided by a rural carrier.

◊Conduct a “discontinuance study” for the office and find a suitable alternative location, kept open by a private contractor, such as a local business. The alternative location would probably provide more service hours than the local post office would be able to offer.

◊Conduct a “discontinuance study” for the office and relocate the P.O. Box service to a nearby post office.

Unless more than 60 percent of community members respond that they want a discontinuance study, the Postal Service intends to maintain the Decatur Post Office with six hours of window service each weekday, the letter states.

“The Postal Service is committed to serving America’s communities and providing a responsible and fair approach for our employees andcustomers,” said Megan Brennan, Postal Service Chief Operating Officer. “The Post Offices in rural America will remain open unless a community has a strong preference for one of the other options. We will not close any of these rural Post Offices without having provided a viable solution.”

A meeting will be held in the Decatur Community Room at 5 p.m., Oct. 24, to provide more information and answer questions about the plan. The results of the survey will also be shared at the meeting, but a final decision will not be made until a later date, the letter states.

Village Post Offices

Village Post Offices were created by the United States Postal Service in 2011. They are located in places such as “convenient stores,” local businesses and libraries, and are operated by the management of those locations, according to a fact sheet published by the USPS.

Village Post Offices offer popular services, including P.O. Boxes, Forever stamps, Pre-paid Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes and a mail collection box, the fact sheet states.

News, Pages 3 on 09/26/2012