Mail mess at Center Post Office
Have you gone without mail at the Center Post Office for days at a time? Missed packages? Checks? Christmas cards? Periodicals?
Join the club.
Part of the problem is the number of packages sent to street addresses, instead of post office box numbers.
At least that’s the the word from United States Postal Service spokeswoman Christine Dugas.
Ms. Dugas said she’s aware of the problem and is assigning two additional workers to the Center Post Office to assist the two men who have been overwhelmed by their efforts to give priority to packages before Christmas.
That resulted in their falling behind in first class mail, Ms. Dugas said.
As of today, they are caught up on first class mail, but still have about 50 packages sent to Islanders with only a street address on them.
One worker remained at the Center Post Office until 8:30 p.m. Christmas Eve, trying to match those packages to box numbers, Ms. Dugas said.
But if you’re expecting a package that didn’t arrive, she suggests you go to the Center Post Office and see if your package is among those not yet identified.
The backup at the busiest time of the year came about because Postmaster Mary Payne is out and it was necessary to bring in help from other places.
What Ms. Dugas wants customers to know is that those working aren’t slackers.
They have just been humbled by their well-intentioned efforts to get packages to customers in time for Christmas and that resulted in delaying other mail.
