Commission petitions support of Great Cacapon Post Office
by Jazz Clark
A petition, signed by more than 560 people, asking for hours to stay the same at the Great Cacapon Post Office, was presented at the Thursday, December 6 meeting of the Morgan County Commissioners.
Under the current U.S. Postal Service plan, weekday hours would be slashed from eight to six and the current postmaster would receive less compensation.
The commissioners put their support behind the effort to retain the present hours. In addition to accepting the petition presented by Jerry Berman, they also were given a sample letter by Berman.
The commissioners agreed to send the letter and the petition to various officials, including the postal regulatory commission, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito and several other West Virginia politicians.
“We have the petition and we should get it out in the mail as quickly as possible,” said Commission President Stacy Dugan.
The petition asked postal officials not to reduce services for the post office until no other reasonable option exists for Great Cacapon.
“There are new functions being added to the post office in our time that should be recognized,” Berman told the commissioners. “When you look at Great Cacapon and the loss of a hardware store and a market and a service center, it serves as a community center where people can talk and post notices.”
The rural post office provides functions such as helping residents without internet access, making sure vital mail such as prescription drugs and welfare checks reach destinations on time, helping small businesses manage packages and running a local book lending library, according to the letter that the commissioners sent.
Berman argued that in an era of transformation for postal services, a thriving rural post office should be seen as an example of how one can function just as well in the digital age.
Commissioner Brad Close stressed that the gist of the letter is to think outside of the box in post office billings and operations.
“I think the point is that it’s a profitable operation in Morgan County, and that’s why we feel it is important for them to continue studies, since this post office is making money,” Close said.
