A letter has gone out to Climax postal residents from Alice Ryle, POSTPLAN coordinator of the Jacksonville, Florida division of the U.S. Postal Service advising that the Climax Post Office will re-open on May 17, 2014. That is good news to the little town that lost their home mail services in October 2012.
Post Offices are important central gathering places for small communities such as Climax. The services have been sorely missed by the residents, according to City Clerk, Karen Toole.
The letter states new hours of operation will be Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with closings for lunch from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. Saturday hours will be 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The letter also states the U.S. Postal Service will hold a meeting at the Climax Baptist Church, 204 Lee St., on May 1 at 2 p.m. to answer questions and provide additional information about bringing postal services back to Climax.
It is believed that the explanation will address reduced hours of operation, and the way it will be staffed.
Owner of the building is Morgan Wolaver of Richmond, Vermont, who also owns buildings leased to the U.S. Postal Service in other states.
Wolaver said it is his understanding that there are buildings elsewhere the POSTPLAN service has closed for which they also explained as “due to lease negotiation failure.” He believes the Climax post office is the first one of those to reopen. Wolaver said he has negotiated a five-year lease, which should guarantee the post office existence in Climax for the next five years.
Wolaver credited the public input and supporting statements from the citizens of Climax for the reopening— that and his willingness to ne-negotiate a lease that is less than the fair market value; but he recognizes the need for Climax and other towns like it to have a post office.
He stated the Climax Post Office never should have closed in the first place; but he is happy that the Postal Service is making an effort to understand how the post office also serves as a communal place in small towns such as Climax.
Toole, agrees that the citizens of the town were very concerned when the post office closed in October 2012.
They were especially concerned that there was no communication from the people who closed it. ‘”We didn’t know what was going on,” said Toole. She added, “They are still claiming it was a suspension (of service) but we all know what it was.” All mailboxes and furnishings were removed.
She credits Wolaver’s persistence in keeping after the postal service to look at how it was closed and why it was closed, with getting it back.
“The post office means a lot to the citizens of Climax,” explained Toole. “It is especially meaningful to the older people who gather there in the morning to talk and socialize a bit.”
She said when Climax lost the school it was hard on the city, but when they lost the post office it was devastating.
“To get it back will mean a lot to people,” Toole said.
Toole added that she used to work at the post office and knows that there were many out-of-towners who would bring mail in to be postmarked “Climax,” so their friends could see it came from there.