McDavid Post Office To Remain Open With Reduced Hours

January 17, 2014

The McDavid Post Office will stay open, but will see a reduction in hours — that was the word Thursday night during a special community meeting with postal officials. The new hours will be announced within about a month.

“This post office is going to stay open,” said Milton Postmaster Steve Seagraves, speaking on behalf of the Postal Service. “We are not closing; we are going to be here for you.”

Residents and businesses in the 32568 zip code were notified in December that the Postal Service will take future action regarding the McDavid Post Office. They were surveyed with 77 percent of respondents choosing a reduction in hours over other options including closure.

Most of the two dozen or so people that attended Thursday night’s meeting were of retirement age, as noted by resident Gary Welch.

“It looks like the trend is to punish the people…an aging population,” Welch said. “We can’t go 10 miles for another post office; we  don’t even have a business to put a post office inside.”

“It is important to me to take care of you,” said Pam Tramonte, the postmaster of Century who is also responsible for the McDavid Post Office and the contract post office in Walnut Hill. She pointed out that many postal services such as shipping packages or purchasing stamps can be done online or with a rural mail carrier’s assistance.

The McDavid Post Office’s retail window is currently open 7:45 -11 a.m. and noon – 3:45 p.m. during the week and 7:45 to 9:45 a.m. on Saturdays. The most likely new hours for the McDavid retail window will be 9-11 a.m. and 12:30 until 3:30 p.m. during the week and Saturday from 8-10 a.m., according to postal officials.  Access to post office boxes would remain 24/7.

There are no plans to make any changes at the Walnut Hill Post Office, which shares McDavid’s 32568 zip code. The Walnut Hill Post Office is a contract location operated by Escambia River Electric Cooperative, providing retail window services and post office boxes.

Pictured top:  McDavid zip code residents Gary Welch (left) and Billy Ward listen to postal officials Thursday night during a community meeting held at the McDavid United Methodist Church. Pictured below: Residents learn more about proposed changes to their post office. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

One Response to “McDavid Post Office To Remain Open With Reduced Hours”

  1. Tuf on January 18th, 2014 7:39 am

    Hate to see the afternoon hours pulled back from 3:45 pm to 3:30 pm. I was always able to get any packages weighedand mailed with about five minutes to spare before closing. I cannot reach this post office before 3:40 pm. Ouch with my Amazon book selling business.