Belgrade Lakes mail boat service to be reviewed
Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
BELGRADE LAKES — Conflicting letters from the United States Postal Service in Washington, D.C. have residents wondering whether or not mail boat service on Great Pond will end after next summer.
The Great Pond route, featured in the Academy Award-winning movie "On Golden Pond," is being reviewed by Maine District postal officials who have jurisdiction over the Belgrade Lakes area operation.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins made an inquiry of Postmaster General John Potter on behalf of lake residents — there are more than 100 of them — who rely on the deliveries, including Robert McTaggart.
McTaggart, who has received his mail by boat for the past 12 years, got a note from Collins in the mail Monday, along with a copy of the letter signed by Ken Currier, U.S. Postal Service manager of government relations.
In the letter to Collins dated Oct. 31, Currier says "He (McTaggart) may be pleased to learn that Maine District postal officials, who have jurisdiction over the Belgrade Lakes area postal operations, report there are no plans to eliminate the Great Pond mailboat."
But an unsigned letter sent to the Kennebec Journal from Christine Dugas, Postal Service communication program specialist, says Maine District officials have no plans to eliminate the mailboat for the 2003 summer season. It does not commit the service beyond then.
The second letter also included a paragraph explaining the postmaster general's Transformation Plan, which says the U.S. Postal Service "will be conducting comprehensive operational reviews designed to make processes and procedures more efficient and net savings of $5 billion by 2006, without adversely affecting service. As such, we continue to examine all operational networks, transportation inclusive and make any appropriate changes to achieve these goals."
"They're looking for the signed version now," Dugas said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "All the letters were supposed to go out with the transformation language ... The person who wrote the letter for him (Currier) sent it out without the language. Frankly, the letter wasn't suppose to go anywhere. It was supposed to be reviewed first."
Dugas said Collins should be receiving the new version, but that might take some time because mail in Washington is still being irradiated.
McTaggart said he had hoped Collins would be able to help lake residents keep the service indefinitely. They also wrote to Sen. Olympia Snowe.
"It (the mail boat) has historical significance because of the notoriety it's gotten from the movie and book 'On Golden Pond,'" said McTaggart, who lives on the north end of Great Pond. "It's a wonderful service, and also I think it's a tourist attraction for the Belgrade Lakes area. Lots of people use the mail boat to see the lake."
Dugas said e-mail and a sluggish economy has had an impact on the Postal Service. For the first time in history, mail volume has begun to decline, she said. The number of Postal Service customers is growing, Dugas said, but revenue is down because there is less mail being sent.
"We're looking at how we can get a savings without having an adverse impact on the customers," she said. "That's not to say we have a plan to close it (mail boat) in 2004. It just means when the postmaster general unveiled the transformation plan, we are committed to review it."
Mechele Cooper — 623-3811, Ext. 408
mcooper@centralmaine.com