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Marilee Spitsnogle, center, manager of post office operations in Eugene, talks with Camas Valley residents about getting a post office back in the town during a meeting Tuesday night at the Chalet Restaurant.
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ENLARGE
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People walk down Highway 42 in Camas Valley with signs showing their desire for the return of their post office before a meeting with Marilee Spitsnogle, manager of post office operations in Eugene.
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CAMAS VALLEY — A slew of protesters, from children to seniors, rallied outside the Camas Mountain Chalet restaurant Tuesday night with signs reading, “We need our Post Office,” and “Roses are red, violets are blue, Marilee we know it’s you.”
Manager of Post Office Operations Marilee Spitsnogle and Chris Conroy, field representative for Congressman Peter DeFazio, met with the 97416 Postal Committee and members of the community to discuss the rationale for closing the Camas Valley Post Office last December and the reasons it hasn’t been reopened.
The temporary post office in Camas Valley is currently open 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily. Members of the community insist that the hour and a half time frame and other restrictions of the temporary post office are a far cry from their needs.
“We absolutely need a full-service post office,” said Janice Baker, co-chair for the committee. “A lot of seniors have medicine delivered by mail and if it comes Friday, and they aren’t there to get it, then they have to wait until Monday. By that time it’s in Tenmile. It’s very scary.”
The temporary post office does not mail packages over 10 pounds, and if postal customers are not at the facility to receive their mail on the day it arrives it is sent to the post office in Tenmile.
Manager of Post Office Operations Marilee Spitsnogle and Chris Conroy, field representative for Congressman Peter DeFazio, met with the 97416 Postal Committee and members of the community to discuss the rationale for closing the Camas Valley Post Office last December and the reasons it hasn’t been reopened.
The temporary post office in Camas Valley is currently open 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily. Members of the community insist that the hour and a half time frame and other restrictions of the temporary post office are a far cry from their needs.
“We absolutely need a full-service post office,” said Janice Baker, co-chair for the committee. “A lot of seniors have medicine delivered by mail and if it comes Friday, and they aren’t there to get it, then they have to wait until Monday. By that time it’s in Tenmile. It’s very scary.”
The temporary post office does not mail packages over 10 pounds, and if postal customers are not at the facility to receive their mail on the day it arrives it is sent to the post office in Tenmile.
“We’re devastated,” said Leo Payne, owner of the Chalet.
The committee criticized Spitsnogle for not doing her part to get the post office reopened. They say it should not have been closed merely because a quarter-inch of water covered the floor after a drain backed up, though Spitsnogle characterized the problem as “flooding.”
“I’ve been hearing rumors that the United States Postal Service does not respond to anybody,” said Conroy. “I don’t know where these rumors are coming from and that’s why Marilee and I are here right now.”
Spitsnogle started the discussion.
“We’ve been discussing a lot of options. One was to move the post office into the fire department. That has been removed from the table. Plan B, the quickest way to get a full-service post office here, would be a contract post office.”
A contract post office would be no different than a regular facility except it would be privately owned. A person would have to come forward, make a bid, and then provide the facility and personnel.
That idea was met with resistance from community members who, according to Jane Pitcock, principal/superintendent of Camas Valley Charter School, “just want what they had back.”
“We teach ethics and leadership here in Camas Valley,” Pitcock said. “You said the reason we don’t have a post office is because the government can’t fund it. Two sentences later you said it was because of flooding in the post office which has been corrected.”
Despite efforts to argue with Spitsnogle, she told the community it might take years to get a full-service post office in Camas Valley, and that’s if there is funding for it.
“If you go with a contract, you’ll gain a post office more quickly than if you hold out,” said Spitsnogle.
She responded to the question as to why they couldn’t move the post office back into the old building with, “We have to comply with federal and state regulations.”
The meeting ended with the decision to advertise for a contract post office. In the meantime, Spitsnogle promised to campaign for the return of a full-service post office and Conroy agreed to present the issue to DeFazio.
“This is what we expected,” said Michael Cay, chairman for the committee. “We’re happy she sat down with us, but people have said hard things in life are impossible and I’ve proved to them it’s not true. We hope she continues to work on it.”
• You can reach reporter Cara Pallone at 957-4208 or by e-mail at cpallone@newsreview.info.
The committee criticized Spitsnogle for not doing her part to get the post office reopened. They say it should not have been closed merely because a quarter-inch of water covered the floor after a drain backed up, though Spitsnogle characterized the problem as “flooding.”
“I’ve been hearing rumors that the United States Postal Service does not respond to anybody,” said Conroy. “I don’t know where these rumors are coming from and that’s why Marilee and I are here right now.”
Spitsnogle started the discussion.
“We’ve been discussing a lot of options. One was to move the post office into the fire department. That has been removed from the table. Plan B, the quickest way to get a full-service post office here, would be a contract post office.”
A contract post office would be no different than a regular facility except it would be privately owned. A person would have to come forward, make a bid, and then provide the facility and personnel.
That idea was met with resistance from community members who, according to Jane Pitcock, principal/superintendent of Camas Valley Charter School, “just want what they had back.”
“We teach ethics and leadership here in Camas Valley,” Pitcock said. “You said the reason we don’t have a post office is because the government can’t fund it. Two sentences later you said it was because of flooding in the post office which has been corrected.”
Despite efforts to argue with Spitsnogle, she told the community it might take years to get a full-service post office in Camas Valley, and that’s if there is funding for it.
“If you go with a contract, you’ll gain a post office more quickly than if you hold out,” said Spitsnogle.
She responded to the question as to why they couldn’t move the post office back into the old building with, “We have to comply with federal and state regulations.”
The meeting ended with the decision to advertise for a contract post office. In the meantime, Spitsnogle promised to campaign for the return of a full-service post office and Conroy agreed to present the issue to DeFazio.
“This is what we expected,” said Michael Cay, chairman for the committee. “We’re happy she sat down with us, but people have said hard things in life are impossible and I’ve proved to them it’s not true. We hope she continues to work on it.”
• You can reach reporter Cara Pallone at 957-4208 or by e-mail at cpallone@newsreview.info.
