Town of Esopus may request mail delivery in hamlet

PORT EWEN, N.Y. » Esopus Supervisor Shannon Harris is considering whether the U.S. Postal Service should be asked to make deliveries in Port Ewen, instead of requiring residents and business owners to pick up mail from a post office box.

Harris made the comment Friday asshe prepared an outline of deadlines faced by the owners of the 158 W. Main St. building that houses the Port Ewen Post Office, which has been closed for a month for repairs.

“All of this inconvenience and heartburn has re-

ally raised awareness among the residents that they wish to become less reliant on the post office,” she said. “New calls for an official vote on whether Port Ewen should have mail service delivery versus P.O. boxes are (being made) on that matter to come up again.

“People want delivery now, they don’t want to fool with the post office anymore,” Harris added. “Times have changed. It would be optional for some people to keep their P.O. box, but, really, the entire hamlet wants to have the option to have mail service delivery.”

Mail for Port Ewen addresses is currently being sent to the Ulster Park Post Office at 364 Union Center Road, which is seven miles away from the currently closed Port Ewen Post Office.

Harris noted that workers at the Port Ewen Post Office

on Friday said work to repair the roof is two-thirds completed and is expected to be finished ahead of a May 30 deadline set by the town to bring the building into compliance.

“The post office also put the landlord on notice,” she said. “If (the owner, LMF Development) fails to complete the repairs in and/or outside the building, the post office will take charge of completing the repairs on June 1.”

Postal Service officials were not immediately available Friday for comment.

However, Operations Manager Sherry Bertrand, in a May 24 email to the town, said: “Our expectation is the (building) owner to have the work completed in June. Post office box delivery will resume at the Port Ewen Post Office as soon as the work is successfully completed and the necessary occupancy approvals are issued.”

Esopus officials said it has proven impossible to meet U.S. Postal Service standards in finding a temporary solution. They note that the former Moose Lodge, currently owned by the Port Ewen Fire Department, was considered, but it was determined the site could not meet terms of a lease.

U.S. Rep. John Faso, RKinderhook, in a May 23 letter to U.S. Postal Service officials, said a better effort needs to be made to work with local representatives.

“The USPS finally sent a contract to the fire department that is simply not workable for a small volunteer fire department trying to assist the community with a temporary fix,” he wrote. “The USPS must explore other temporary fixes such as obtaining a large trailer from which mail can be distributed to residents.”

Faso added that “it is unclear how a leaky roof could have deteriorated to the point of requiring a shutdown of the facility without earlier notification to the USPS or landlord that there were structural issues with the facility.”