Board dismisses Careywood post office appeal
CAREYWOOD — The U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission is dismissing the appeal that sought to undo the closure of the Careywood post office.
The 24-page order dismissing the appeal was released on Wednesday and includes an extensive dissenting opinion from Commissioner Ruth Goldway, who said the board’s decision was flawed in a number of respects and threatens rural mail service nationwide.
Goldway said the commission is effectively denying the community due process and protection afforded under federal law.
“Moreover, precedent established in this case would significantly lessen the commission’s ability to review post office closings in rural communities, thereby removing important for protections for rural Americans,” Goldway wrote in her eight-page dissenting opinion.
Careywood post office customers were notified that the facility would be closing on March 31 and their mailboxes were being relocated to the post office in Athol.
A determined group of Careywood customers appealed the closure to the postal regulatory commission. They argued that the closure would have a disastrous impact on the community and that postal facilities in Athol or Bayview are not part of their community.
The U.S. Postal Service moved to dismiss the appeal, contending shutdown regulations did not apply to Careywood’s post office because it was a contract postal unit, also known as a CPU, as opposed to a community post office.
A public representative countered that the shutdown rules did in fact apply because Careywood was the sole source of postal services in the community.
The commission narrowed its focus as to whether Careywood was indeed a sole-source provider.
The majority of the commission held that Careywood may have been a sole-source provider in prior decades, customers can still avail themselves of Internet-based shipping options, rural carriers and the Athol post office, which is about 7 miles from Careywood.
“The commission concludes that the Careywood CPU is not the sole source of postal services to the community of Careywood,” the majority wrote.
As to the questions surrounding precedents, the commission agreed to initiate a proceeding to consider policy and runs concerning CPUs and community post offices.
Goldway noted in her dissenting opinion that majority omitted a long-standing precedent for the postal service to keep open any post office that is under appeal and is creating a new precedent.
“The majority decision here — despite the promise of a new general proceeding in which will be challenging for average citizens to participate — in fact establishes an unreasonable precedent that mere access to the Internet and USPS.com are adequate substitutes for post offices in any rural community,” Goldway wrote.
Goldway also contended that the appeals should have received a full hearing.
“It will be difficult for the commission to continue to encourage the postal service to meet its obligations to the rural public when the commission declines to hear credible and legitimate citizen appeals,” she wrote.