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For years, Avilla, a once-thriving community on Route 66, has seen its businesses and historic places close down or go away.
Now the community is gearing up to fight a proposal that would see one of its last businesses and an important link to federal services shut down.
More than 35 residents attended a meeting on Thursday, hosted by the U.S. Postal Service, to allow public comment on the proposal to close Avilla’s Post Office.
Without exception, the residents voiced opposition to the idea.
“I have a book Marvin VanGilder had written about our history and a lot of our history is gone,” said Avilla Mayor Rosemary Lombard. “This post office has been here since I was a little kid and it’s so handy and we want it for our town. It’s a historical site, Route 66 runs right by here and I watch those people take pictures. This would be a big blow to the community to lose this post office, we’re proud of it.”
Avilla is one of more than 130 post offices in Missouri and 3,000 across the country that the Postal Service is considering closing as a cost-saving measure to deal with a possible shortfall of $10 billion in the coming year.
|Francis Bowman, an investigator collecting public comments for the Postal Service from communities where they are considering closing post offices, spoke to the crowd about why Avilla is being considered for closure and the alternative ways they will provide services if the Avilla office is closed.
Bowman said the Avilla Post Office is being considered for closing because it didn’t bring in enough money.
She said Avilla’s Post Office fell under the criteria of post offices with less than $27,500 in annual revenue. Avilla brought in $22,791 in 2008, $18,979 in 2009, and $23,239 in 2010.
Bowman said most Avilla residents would be put on a rural route with a carrier coming from Sarcoxie. People who want a post office box could rent one at the Reeds Post Office, about six miles away, or at Sarcoxie, about 14 miles away.
Bowman said a rural carrier could also provide such services as selling stamps, selling money orders, delivering bulk mail and others.
She said the procedure for closing a post office allows residents 60 days after a proposal is posted in the Avilla Post Office and two other post offices to send letters to the Postal Service saying why Avilla’s Post Office should be kept open.
For years, Avilla, a once-thriving community on Route 66, has seen its businesses and historic places close down or go away.
Now the community is gearing up to fight a proposal that would see one of its last businesses and an important link to federal services shut down.
More than 35 residents attended a meeting on Thursday, hosted by the U.S. Postal Service, to allow public comment on the proposal to close Avilla’s Post Office.
Without exception, the residents voiced opposition to the idea.
“I have a book Marvin VanGilder had written about our history and a lot of our history is gone,” said Avilla Mayor Rosemary Lombard. “This post office has been here since I was a little kid and it’s so handy and we want it for our town. It’s a historical site, Route 66 runs right by here and I watch those people take pictures. This would be a big blow to the community to lose this post office, we’re proud of it.”
Avilla is one of more than 130 post offices in Missouri and 3,000 across the country that the Postal Service is considering closing as a cost-saving measure to deal with a possible shortfall of $10 billion in the coming year.
|Francis Bowman, an investigator collecting public comments for the Postal Service from communities where they are considering closing post offices, spoke to the crowd about why Avilla is being considered for closure and the alternative ways they will provide services if the Avilla office is closed.
Bowman said the Avilla Post Office is being considered for closing because it didn’t bring in enough money.
She said Avilla’s Post Office fell under the criteria of post offices with less than $27,500 in annual revenue. Avilla brought in $22,791 in 2008, $18,979 in 2009, and $23,239 in 2010.
Bowman said most Avilla residents would be put on a rural route with a carrier coming from Sarcoxie. People who want a post office box could rent one at the Reeds Post Office, about six miles away, or at Sarcoxie, about 14 miles away.
Bowman said a rural carrier could also provide such services as selling stamps, selling money orders, delivering bulk mail and others.
She said the procedure for closing a post office allows residents 60 days after a proposal is posted in the Avilla Post Office and two other post offices to send letters to the Postal Service saying why Avilla’s Post Office should be kept open.
Several people cited the post office’s location on the historic Route 66 as a reason it should be kept open.
“It’s just one of the icons that’s been on the road for years and it’s one of the few post offices that is on the Route,” said
Tommy Pike, Springfield, president of the Route 66 Association of Missouri. “There’s one in Devil’s Elbow, but everything like that that you lose is gone. It’s an asset to this community and it really needs to be saved. I can see that the people here are not happy about it closing. I wasn’t too happy either, when I heard about it. “
Steve Vanderhoof, Springfield, president of the retiree’s Missouri Chapter of the National Postmasters of the United States, spoke to the Avilla residents about what they could do to try keep their post office open.
He said closing post offices will only save a small fraction of the revenue the Postal Service needs to offset the money it would lose this year.
He told residents they can save their post office if they work at it.
“I know a lot of you are sitting there thinking this is a done deal, they’ve already made up their mind, they’re going to post the deal and they’re going to go through the process and they’re still going to tell you they’re closing it,” Vanderhoof said. “If I really thought that, I wouldn’t waste my time driving from Springfield, where I live, to give you this talk.”
