According to Keith Pierle of Jacksonville, Florida, and the manager of Post Office operations for this area, the Climax Post Office will definitely be reopened on May 17, 2014.
At the community meeting in Climax May 1, where a nice crowd braved the wet weather to attend, Pierle said he was there to get the community’s input and to take questions about the reopening of the Post Office and not to discuss any reasons or actions that were taken when the Post Office closed as he wasn’t here when the closing happened.
Alice Ryles, POSTPLAN Coordinator, accompanied Pierle to the meeting
“The Village Post Office will stay open, it is his choice,” Pierle said. However, he also stated that the post office boxes will be relocated to the original Post Office.
The VPO will continue to have stamps and other post office materials for sale. The rural postal carriers will not be relocated back to the post office. Instead, they will continue to run their routes from the Whigham Post office with no interruption in the mail delivers and the same carries would continue.
He said the hours and window operation pertaining to the retail operation of the Post Office in Climax will be changed to a six hour office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with lunch from 11 a.m. to noon. Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Access to delivery receptacles will not be reduced from current hours. The reasons he gave for the six-hour office schedule were revenue and decisions made by office headquarters. Hours are six, four, or two hours and are based on the revenue from the Post Plan office. In 2015, there will be another review for hours and revenue.
Pierle then asked for questions. Mayor Charles Hadsock stated that the citizens wanted the Climax Post office to be a full service office, to which Pierle replied this was understood, but based on everything he had already stated and the financial issues of the Postal Service, and congress not moving on any of the actions that had been asked for by the postal service, made this unattainable.
The only difference between a full-service office and the new office would be the hours of operation and the rural mail carriers would not be based there. Packages and stamps and all postal services would continue to be available.
Having said this, some people questioned why the village Post Office would remain open. The reply was that it was the business owner’s choice, and the post service paid him a very minimal amount for this service.
The six-hour post office will have a post master, and those present requested that Betty Thomas be returned to Climax. However, Pierle said this would have to be posted and bid on by those post masters who would be available and wanted to apply for the position, and Pierle would be the person making this decision and after following all procedures he would consider the requests.
On May 17,  the mail will be in the post office boxes by opening time, and all other services will be available at that time.
A letter can still be hand stamped with the Climax post mark, if requested. Otherwise, the post mark will be from Tallahassee, Florida. The signs and all other items taken off the building when it closed will be fixed or restored.
Mayor Charles Hadsock stated, “We in Climax thank you for coming and we are really glad our post office is reopening.”