​U.S. Postal Service woes continue in Grand Isle; special Selectboard meeting called for Thursday

By MIKE DONOGHUE
Islander Staff Writer
GRAND ISLE - The Grand Isle Selectboard has agreed to have a special meeting Thursday night to discuss the substandard delivery and service issues for the town by the U.S. Post Office.
The board plans to discuss what the town and individual residents can try to do in an effort to improve mail service in Grand Isle.
Selectboard member Jeff Parizo at the start of the board’s regular Monday meeting asked to have the post office added to the agenda that night.  Because the topic was not on the original agenda, Parizo said the board could not take any formal action, but he proposed a special or emergency meeting be held this week for the postal issue.
Parizo said he was responding to a front-page story in The Islander last week outlining various problems.  The story noted no mail delivery, no chance to pick up packages, limited to no staffing, and a phone that frequently went unanswered.
Parizo said he does not subscribe to Front Porch Forum, but had been approached by taxpayers asking if there is something the town could do to restore quality postal service. 
He said he hoped the board would draw up a letter with its concerns about the local post office and send it to the Congressional delegation and to the Post Office supervisors.
Parizo said since the selectboard represents all the constituents in the town, he believed something needed to be said. He admitted the town board has no control over the post office.
“I’m not saying we are going to have or make any difference, but I think we need to say something,” Parizo said.
Selectboard Vice Chair Josie Leavitt agreed, but was among those that repeated the town has no legal authority over the post office.  The town can only reach out to the Congressional delegation and others to help put pressure on the post office.
“People are upset and understandably so they are not getting their medications.  Their bills are coming in late whatever,” she said.
She noted that 14 pallets from Amazon were left at the post office on Monday for delivery.
“This has nothing to do with the people that work at the post office. They are doing the best they can,” Leavitt said.
Local resident John Lafayette was among some residents that saw it differently.  He laid the blame at the feet of the local Postmaster, Caroline Costello.  He said he has talked with other postal employees and Costello is unable to keep employees.
“Some of it is the amount of packages and mail coming through.  But the real problem is the postmaster not doing her job.  Nobody wants to work with her,” he said.  Lafayette offered to supply names if the board needed to hear more.
Costello, reached on Tuesday morning at the post office, said she believed she was unable to speak to the media because of a USPO policy.  She said she couldn’t even respond to comments made about her personal performance.
She referred questions to USPO spokesman Steve Doherty in Boston, Mass., who did not respond before deadline.
Doherty told The Islander last week, after the print deadline, that there are no plans to close the Grand Isle Post Office.
“There are no plans to shut down the Grand Isle Post Office. Full retail and PO Box service would still be available there. There is talk of relocating the carriers to South Hero. This is to alleviate space constraints at the Grand Isle facility. Customers should see no difference in delivery operations,” he said in an email last Thursday.
But improvement in delivery operations is exactly what customers say they are seeking.
Leavitt said she had not heard any issues with the postmaster or with the lack of trying to expand the post office to handle the large overflow.
Lafayette was not alone in his concerns.
Denise Abbott Douglas said she recently was on Longmeadow Road and noticed many packages left outside the boxes in the elements.  When she stopped to check on the packages, she noticed some were destined for Grand Isle Rescue.   She said she was concerned their items would be left out in the rain and reached out to try to protect them.
She said the postal service should not be leaving real sensitive items out in the weather.
Douglas said her family had some medication misdirected to the wrong location and fortunately that somebody reached out.
“I think it is a very serious problem,” she said.  Douglas called mail for a rescue squad a “big deal” and it should be under cover.
Local resident Jennifer Morway suggested that the selectboard also offer suggestions and not just complaints.  She proposed the board suggest some extra metal containers for temporary storage.
She noted that the landlord reportedly had made multiple offers to expand the building and the postmaster had done nothing.
Selectboard member Ellen Howrigan said she believed every letter helps. She also had heard there was no response to expanding the size of the post office.
The Selectboard voted unanimously to have the special meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday and for the post office to be the lone topic that night.  Leavitt agreed to work on a draft and share it with the board to save time at the meeting.
Parizo said it should be clear in the letter that a special meeting had to be called because of the postal problems.
He said he hoped the final letter would be printed in The Islander so the entire town will understand the board is trying to work on the problem.
Chairman Couper Shaw agreed he thought the letter would have more meaning if it was signed by the full board and not just coming from one member.
A couple of speakers reported they have had good reactions from members of the Vermont Congressional delegation.  Leavitt said she has heard much from the offices of U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., but not so much U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Local resident Bianca Adams said she has had regular communication with Sanders and Welch about how bad the service is in Grand Isle.  
The sentiment at the meeting was that the residents should keep communicating with the full Congressional delegation if any progress is going to be made.  
Local resident Jean Prouty said a report calling for the closure of the Grand Isle Post Office and moving operations to South Hero was an “asinine comment.”
She noted that Grand Isle had the first rural carrier system and there is a public designation in the historic Hyde Cabin on U.S. 2.
Shaw said part of the turnover in personnel might be due to the pay.  He said nobody wants to work for $19 an hour for 12-hour days.  He said McDonald’s in Essex offers the same pay.
The idea of moving carriers from Grand Isle to South Hero, about 3 miles away, is getting a cold reception.  Grand Isle has about 2,100 residents and South Hero has about 1,700.
The only service that might remain in Grand Isle is for the residents that rent private post office boxes in the lobby on U.S. 2.
The timetable for the possible changeover remains unclear.
Similar transfers of service have been made by the Postal Service in other Vermont communities and they turned into disasters.  One of the worst was what was billed as a temporary shift of business from Williston to Essex, but it continues.
Welch, who had concerns about the U.S. Postal Service when he served in the House, said last week that he still has issues now that he is in the upper chamber.
“Our office is asking for clarity from USPS about service in Grand Isle. Any reduction would be unacceptable, and Sen. Welch remains committed to ensuring good service for every Vermonter,” an office spokesman said last week.

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