Wellington citizens gathered Tuesday in the Wellington City Hall to voice their concerns over a rumor that the Wellington City Post Office would be closing.
Residents received a public notice statement in June saying that a survey would be sent out by the United States Postal Service regarding the possibility of a discontinuance of the post office in Wellington City, among other options due to budget cuts in the business.
In the survey, residents would choose between four different options: keep the office open with shortened hours, conduct a discontinuance study for the office and offer roadside mailbox delivery, conduct a discontinuance study for the office and find an alternative location operated by a contractor or conduct a discontinuance study for the office and provide P.O. box service via another nearby post office.
A meeting for the community to discuss the outcome of the surveys, as well as their opinions and input, with the local management of the Post Office took place August 5.
According to Tony Kline, a spokesman for the post office and postal operations representative for southern Utah, the survey results required at least 66% to agree to discontinue the office. He said 88% of those who took the survey chose to keep the office open with limited hours. Kline said the post office will still be open, but no longer have a postmaster position.
Kline said the rumor about the post office closure was a misunderstanding. “We’re not here to close the post office,” he said. “We are here to realign and validate the hours to be 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You will still have 24-hour access to P.O. boxes.”
John Mohr, a concerned citizen, said he feels strongly about keeping the post office the way that it is. He and his sons held picket signs that read “honk if you get mail” and “save our post office” outside of city hall as people arrived at the meeting. “We are representing and doing this for our community,” he said. “We have had a postmaster in Wellington for over 100 years and they’re going to get rid of it just like that?”
Mohr has been very outspoken about his concerns for the post office and said he received threats from Kline. “A guy named Tony Kline called the police and threatened to have my truck towed because it was on city property,” he said.
Kline declined ever making such a threat and police did not tow Mohr’s truck.
