Barnard Post Office Notice of Meeting March 26th at Noon

Barnard Post Office Receives New Officer In Charge

Megan Houghton is now the Officer In Charge at the Barnard post office.  Today was her first day in this position since the retirement of the previous postmaster.  We wish Megan the best in her new position.

Barnard Post Office History

"Barnard Post Office established 100 years ago"
From the Lincoln Sentinel-Republican, May 20, 1982 
It’s centennial time at the Barnard Post Office next week, reports Postmaster Marjorie Maholland. Cake and coffee will be served patrons and friends in an all-day open house Friday, May 21, in observance of the insitution’s 100^th year.

Doing a bit of research on her own, Mrs. Maholland learned that it was 100 years ago May 18, 1882, that the first United States Post Office was established at Nimrod, with Isaac A. Ballard as its postmaster. Six years and four days later, May 22, 1888, the federal government changed the site to Barnard and named William A. Smith postmaster.

According to Mrs. Maholland, this information was verified by the U.S. Postal Service, Bureau of Archives, Washington, D.C., just a few days ago in answer to her inquiry.

Today, the Barnard Post Office serves 76 customer-patrons at its window and inside boxes; there are 124 rural route patrons. In addition to the postmaster, the staff includes Virginia Montgomery, clerk; Bill Biggs, rural carrier; and Leo Wallace, substitute carrier.

Mrs. Maholland, who has been Postmaster since 1976, said that the present native stone building housing the postal service at Barnard was built in 1960. The Barnard Post Office has been situated in several different bildings in various locations since it was established a century ago.

Source:  http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/lincoln/barnard2.htm

United States Postal Service Probably Won't Close the Smallest Post Offices But Will Still Consolidate Mail Processing Sites

In an announcement earlier this month, the USPS says it has developed a strategy that will not require the closing of thousands of post offices, mainly those serving rural areas.  The plan would use customer use statistics to determine new shortened business hours.  Lobby access and box access as well as zip codes and community identity would not be affected.  This strategy would be implemented over a two year timeline and is projected to be finished by September of 2014.  Projected savings would be $500,000,000 (five-hundred million dollars).  The Postal Service is estimated to lose $14 billion dollars for the fiscal year of 2012.

Post offices in rural America will not be closed unless the community affected has a preference for other options that will be offered by the USPS.  Community meetings will be conducted to educate affected communities of these options.  The options include providing mail delivery by rural delivery or highway contract route, contracting with local businesses for a Village Post Office, or offering services from a nearby postal office.  An early retirement plan for 21,000 non-executive postmasters has also been announced.

However, the mail processing centers have not been spared.  The first phase of 140 consolidations will happen by February of 2013 with 89 more consolidations beginning one year later.  These consolidations are projected to save $2.1 billion annually and will reduce the postal workforce by 28,000 people.

It is unknown what the effect will be on the Barnard Post Office.  As per USPS policy, local postal employees are prohibited from discussing policy changes and making statements.

The United States Postal Service

On October 3, 2011, the United States Postal Service held a meeting to discuss the discontinuance of the Barnard Post Office.  Barnard residents and postal customers came and made their dissension known.  My distinct impression is that the postal representatives addressed us as if closing our post office was a forgone conclusion.  I don't think they were expecting the resistance they met.  Many other communities across the United States expressed that same resistance that would have made Benjamin Franklin proud.  The United States Postal Service's first postmaster must be spinning in his grave.

The USPS announced on December 13th that the postal service would delay any consolidation or closure of post offices or distribution centers until May 15, 2012 in order to give congress time to pass legislation.  Will that save the Barnard Post Office or any other office around the country?  That remains to be seen.  According to a source in USPS management, once a post office made the discontinuance list, there was never any intention of taking the office off of the list.  The meetings held were essentially lip service.  USPS headquarters never had any intention of allowing an office to escape the gallows. 

Enter the PR nightmare and legislators.  The public outcry and congressional pressure were great enough that the USPS backpedaled slightly and spared some post offices then later suspended plans altogether until Congress could figure out the issue.  Kansas Senator Jerry Moran led the movement to prevent the closures.  Would the closures happened without congressional interference?  Was this a ruse to cut cost or to stir Congress into action?  Will the closures still happen?  Time will tell.  However, it is clear that the issue has not been resolved and we should not assume that the Barnard Post Office is here to stay.


Note:  The USPS has forbidden its local employees to comment on the closures except to provide information approved for distribution.  None of the information in this posting was obtained from any person affiliated with the Barnard Post Office.

Barnard Post Office Discontinuance Meeting October 3, 2011

            On Monday, October 3, 2011, members of the Barnard community had an opportunity to voice their concerns about the Barnard Post Office Discontinuance Study.  Robert G. Mikulecky, Jr., Postmaster of the Abilene post office was present to make a statement about the proposed closure of the Barnard post office and to answer questions that affected postal patrons may have.  The postmaster from Osborne, Kansas was present to record comments, questions, and concerns to be sent to USPS headquarters for consideration.  A staff person from United States Senator Jerry Moran’s office was present in the audience.

            Postmaster Mikulecky made a statement intended to reassure the Barnard postal patrons that services would not change and that a Barnard address and zip code would be maintained.  When the forum was opened to the public, Barnard Banter editor, Travis Zirkle, opened with a statement quoted from a letter that Senator Moran sent to Postmaster General Donahoe concerning a possible violation of Section 101(b) of Title 39 of the United States Code.  This section states:  “The Postal Service shall provide a maximum degree of effective and regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices are not self-sustaining.  No small post office shall be closed solely for operating at a deficit, it being the specific intent of the Congress that effective postal services be insured to residents of both urban and rural communities.”  Mr. Zirkle then continued with more information from the letter: “the Postal Regulatory Commission has found that maintaining rural post offices only amounts to 0.7% of the USPS’s total budget.”  Mr. Zirkle asked Postmaster Mikulecky for his response.  Mr. Mikulecky responded that the post office wasn’t being closed because it was operating at a deficit, that it was being closed because there was less than two hours of work available.  Kenny Wallace asked how the amount of work was determined which was answered with that the formula took into consideration the amount work coming in and revenue.  Kenny also asked what would happen to Crystal’s job.  Mr. Mikulecky explained about filling available positions elsewhere with people from closed offices, but there was a chance there would be layoffs.

            The Barnard city council took on an active role in the meeting as well.  Nancy Houghton said that the information that we have received made it sound as if the closure was a forgone conclusion.  She asked if there was anything that Barnard could do to save the post office.  The reply was that what the city could do could not be determined by the government but the city had to decide what it was going to do.  Mr. Mikulecky brought up the village concept post office.  Travis Zirkle questioned that approach because Barnard has no suitable business to house a village post office.  In regards to Mr. Mikulecky’s statement about people doing postal business by computer and cell phone, Jan Dowlin replied that not everybody has a computer in this area and that not everyone has good cell phone reception and that conducting business in that fashion was not an option for many people in this area.  Jan also suggested that since Barnard is in the middle of several post offices that are being closed, that Barnard could be kept open to service those areas.  David Abell asked several questions regarding what the post office was doing to offset its deficit.  Mr. Mikulecky said that the post office was past its profitable years.  The larger stations could no longer carry the smaller offices.  When cutting Saturday service was brought up, David Abell took an informal poll and said that if it would save Barnard’s post office, then it looked like everybody there was willing to give up Saturday service.  It was also brought up that the city was struggling and grants asked what government services we had available.  If we lost our post office, grants would be more difficult to successfully apply for and would in fact, hurt our town severely.

            Concerns were also brought up about the safety of our rural carrier and the added workload.  If people were conducting more business by carrier then he would have to carry larger amounts of money.  In addition, there would be more time added to his current time.  It already takes approximately six hours to complete his route and that isn’t including bad weather delays.  Also, it was a concern as to how certified and registered mail services would be handled.  The reply was that we may have to drive to Lincoln.  It was also brought up that our population is an aging population and some had limited driving abilities which made the 15-30 mile drive to a post office nearly impossible.  It was reiterated that just about any service conducted in a post office could be conducted by carrier.

            There is a 138 day process that has already begun.  In November we should be getting information about whether or not our office is closing.  If our office does close, rural delivery should be in place by the end of January.  If there are any questions, concerns, or comments, Mr. Mikulecky’s contact information is below.

Click on image to enlarge.

Barnard Post Office Discontinuance Study

The following documents are what I received in the mail the other day.  Click on each document to make it larger.

There are a few loaded questions in it that seem designed to prove that we could do without our post office.  Answer it carefully.

The postal service is hosting a meeting at the community building to discuss the closure of the Barnard post office.  It is Monday, October 3, 2011 at 7 pm.  I plan to be there.

Simpson recently had a similar meeting.  The postal service advocated that towns could have a village post office in a local business.  The postal service representative said that the addresses would not change and the zip code would remain.  The article said that the 138 day process of closing the Simpson post office began when the meeting was set.  THAT MEANS THAT THE PROCESS HAS STARTED FOR CLOSING THE BARNARD POST OFFICE!!!  OUR TIME IS OFFICIALLY RUNNING OUT!  The appeal process is listed in the above documents.  The article about Simpson is in the September 23 issue of the Beloit Call.

The residents had some great questions that they asked.  Based on those questions, here is what I plan to ask at the meeting.

1.  If the Barnard service area goes to rural delivery, would they have to add personnel?  If they had to add personnel, why could they not continue to pay our postmaster?

2.  As in Simpson the building is not owned by the Postal Service.  The Postal Service said that it will fulfill the lease term.  Will the service do the same here?  When does that contract expire?  If you have to pay for the building anyway, why not keep the post office operative?

3.  The nearest post offices are 15-30 miles away.  Our population is aging and some have limited driving abilities.  How will they get to the post office?  How will we get to the post offices to get our registered mail or things we must sign for?

4.  If you leave our packages in unsecured areas, how can we be assured of getting them?

5.  We have no suitable businesses in town to provide a village post office.  How can we open a village post office?

If our post office closes, several people have voiced concern about whether or not they would stay in Barnard.  Council member Randy Pickering said in a council meeting that if the post office closed, he and Crystal were definitely leaving.  I believe that others may do the same.  This may be a hard blow for our community to survive.  This is the time that you should stand up and be counted.  If we lose our post office, it shouldn't be because we didn't try.

October 2011 City Council Meeting and Post Office Closure Meeting

On Monday, October 3, 2011, the Barnard city council will meet at 6 pm.  Following the council meeting, there will be a post office potential closure meeting from 7 pm until 9pm.  The city council meeting will be at city hall and the post office meeting will be at the community center.

United States Post Office, Barnard, Kansas 67418...CLOSED?

     In order to stem losses of 2.6 billion dollars in the 3rd quarter, the United States Postal Service has revised it's possible closure list.  The Post Office in Barnard, Kansas is on that list.  Out of over 3,000 post offices being evaluated for possible closure, just over 150 of them are in Kansas.

     The Postal Service reports that due to the amount of postal business conducted over the internet and the alternatives to the USPS, there isn't the need for the physical offices.  An alternative that the USPS is offering to areas affected by the possible closures are village post offices.  The following is from the USPS.com website:

Post Office study list

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Our customer’s habits have made it clear they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business.

More and more of them are choosing to conduct their postal business online, on their smart phone and at their shopping destinations. And that means the need for us to maintain nearly 32,000 retail offices has diminished.

So we are taking the next step in right-sizing our retail network by studying approximately 3,700 retail offices to determine customer needs. As part of this study, we are introducing a retail-replacement option –– Village Post Offices –– as an option for affected communities.

Village Post Offices would be operated by local businesses, such as pharmacies, grocery stores and other appropriate retailers, and would offer popular postal products and services such as stamps and flat-rate packaging.

Please click here for the list of retail offices being studied.

     The closure of the Barnard Post Office could have devastating effects on the community.  Council member, Randy Pickering, said that not having a post office would have a negative affect on receiving grants and other funding.  Many applications, he says, asks if there is a local post office.  With the budget of Barnard as tight as it is, grants are significant in the completion of some projects.

     In addition to funding issues, closing the Barnard Post Office will have an effect on where and how Barnard residents will obtain postal services.  Beverly and Simpson Post Offices are also being studied for closure.  If that happens, Lincoln will be the closest Post Office.  Many residents in the Barnard service area are not connected to the internet and do not drive that distance that would be required to visit the closest office.  Losing the post office would be a blow to the the morale of the community.  As the only other business with operating business hours, Annette's Country Kitchen would probably not be suitable for a Village Post Office.

     In 1966, Barnard lost its high school followed in 1977 by the closure of the grade school.  The remnants of the school are used as farm storage.  Cargill's lease on the Barnard grain elevator will end after this farm harvest, and much of Barnard's downtown district is empty or demolished.  Losing the post office may very well be the final nail in the coffin for a town struggling to survive.

     There is hope, however.  Senator Snowe (R-Maine) has petitioned the USPS to study the impact of Post Office closures on rural communities and report the findings the the Congress.  From the Senator's website:

Snowe Urges USPS to Examine Impact of Post Office Closures on Rural Communities

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) is urging the United States Postal Service (USPS) to examine the potentially harmful effect possible post office consolidations and closures could have on rural communities. In a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahue following the release of a report by the USPS identifying 34 possible post office closures in Maine, Senator Snowe has requested the Postal Service examine potentially harmful consequences for rural communities at risk of losing their post offices and report back on their findings.

Senator Snowe said:

“There is no question that tumultuous economic times have forced families and businesses alike to make tough choices when it comes to their finances.  However, the current financial challenges faced by the USPS should not preclude the preservation of universal postal service and convenient community access, which together constitute the bedrock of towns large and small across the nation.  It is critical we carefully assess the potential impact of these proposed closures, especially as it relates to service in rural communities.”

In her letter to the Postmaster General today, Senator Snowe asserted, “While I understand the imperative to reduce costs, it is absolutely critical that your actions not tear at the fabric of island communities and rural towns and villages by denying them the reliable, affordable and convenient postal service currently provided.”  A copy of the Senator’s letter to the Postmaster General is attached.

BACKGROUND:  In an attempt to cut costs after reporting a $2.6 billion third quarter loss, the USPS believes it can save $200 million by closing 3,700 of its 32,000 post offices nationwide.  According to the USPS, over 3,000 of the offices identified reported less than $27,500 in annual revenue.

     The Barnard city council has already voted to send a letter to our government representatives.  You can also send letters to tell Congress and the USPS that the Barnard Post Office is necessary and important to the community.  You may choose to call or fax your representatives but PLEASE also send letters postmarked in Barnard so that they will see the office in action.

IMPORTANT ADDRESSES:

Representative Tim Huelskamp

Washington, DC Office
126 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2715
Fax: (202) 225-5124


Salina Office
119 W. Iron Ave., 4th Floor
Suite A, P.O. Box 766
Salina, KS 67402
Phone: 785-309-0572
Fax: 785-827-6957


Senators:

Jerry Moran

Washington, D.C.

Russell Senate Office Building
Room 354
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6521
Fax: (202) 228-6966

Hays

P.O. Box 249
1200 Main St. Suite 402
Hays, KS 67601
Phone: (785) 628-6401
Fax: (785) 628-3791

Pat Roberts

Washington DC

109 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1605
Phone: (202) 224-4774
Fax: (202) 224-3514

Overland Park

11900 College Boulevard
Suite 203
Overland Park, KS 66210Phone: (913) 451-9343
Fax: (913) 451-9446

United States Postmaster General:

The Honorable Patrick Donahoe

Postmaster General

U.S. Postal Service

475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW

Washington, DC 20260-0010