Politics & Government

Tariffville Post Office to Remain Closed

It has been almost a year since an emergency closing, but now the decision is final.

It’s official. The Tariffiville Post Office will remain closed.

The appeal before the Postal Regulatory Commission was closed Monday, when the final decision to keep the post office shuttered was made. But the decision was not unanimous, as the chairwoman of the commission wrote a dissenting opinion was part of the decision.

"Of course we are disappointed by the news," said Deputy First Selectman John K. Hampton.

Find out what's happening in Simsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

He said state and local officials and members of the Tariffville Village Association worked tirelessly — especially TVA members — to keep a local post office. He said now the effort will shift to instituting a village post office concept. This entails offering some postal services within an existing business. There would not be a service counter, but stamps and post office boxes would be available.

On August 9, 2011, the U.S. Postal Service issued a “final determination” to close the Tariffville Post Office, but residents and town officials appealed the decision.

Find out what's happening in Simsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After an emergency suspension in February 2011 due to structural concerns with the building at 39 Main St. — the building was later deemed safe to reoccupy — the U.S. Postal Service moved out and did not reopen a branch in Tariffville. The 166 post office boxes and all equipment were removed from the location. The post office boxes are now in the main post office at 932 Hopmeadow St., which is 3 miles away. Residents can have delivery to their homes with a mailbox.

Since February, residents have been fighting to save their post office. There was a meeting with Postal Service officials in April, a petition, letter writing, comments on the proposal, survey responses and a rally in July.

Town officials were also involved in the efforts to save the Tariffville Post Office, as was U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy.

Petitioners and the supporting commenters opposed closure of the Tariffville Post Office stating it adversely affects the community, the proposed service through the Simsbury Post Office does not provide them with effective and regular mail service, and that the economic savings projected by the Postal Service does not justify closure of the Tariffville Post Office.

The Postal Service asserted that it had given these and other issues serious consideration and concluded that the determination to discontinue the Tariffville Post Office should be affirmed.

The Postal Service explained that its decision to close the Tariffville Post Office was based on several factors, including emergency suspension of the facility, the postmaster vacancy due to reassignment after the emergency suspension, a minimal workload and declining office revenue, a variety of other delivery and retail options (including rural delivery and retail service), minimal impact on the community and expected financial savings.

The Postal Service said it will continue to provide regular and effective postal services to the Tariffville community and that it followed all statutorily required procedures and addressed the concerns raised by petitioners regarding the effect on postal services, effect on the Tariffville community, economic savings, and effect on postal employees.

Ruth Y. Goldway, chairman of the United States Postal Regulatory Commission in Washington, DC, wrote a dissenting opinion on closing the post office.

In part she wrote: “I dissent because the Administrative Record is inaccurate or insufficient with regard to economic savings.” She wrote that the post office maintained an appreciable amount of walk-in revenue each year, and questioned whether the Simsbury office can handle the added business.

“If Simsbury is staffed appropriately to meet the needs of its existing customers, and the additional customers from Tariffville, then the savings will be significantly less than that projected by the Postal Service,” she wrote.

The Postal Service not long ago announced a moratorium on post office closings, she added.

Despite the news, some residents still have hope that a post office may come back to the village.

Wanda Colman, who appealed the decision and is a member of the Tariffville Village Association, said “some day the right building might become available in Tariffville and we can petition the USPS to open a branch in our little village.” 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here