The Troy post office will trim its weekday hours as part of service reductions at smaller post offices nationwide.

Residents in the town, which has a population of about 1,000, were surveyed before a meeting with U.S. Postal Service executives to see if they would prefer to reduce the local post office’s hours, transfer it from its free-standing building to a service within an existing store, or close the local office and use a neighboring town’s services.

The Troy branch’s change in hours is part of a broader review process called Post Plan, in which communities are asked to participate in evaluating alternatives — primarily reduced hours — to outright closing. Thirteen other Maine towns had similar meetings about their post office branches this week, and about 13,000 nationwide are expected to be part of the USPS Postal Plan.

At the meeting Thursday night, postal workers told Troy residents gathered at the office that the survey indicated residents would rather reduce the local post office’s hours rather than see it moved.

The new hours will go into effect by January, and residents said they anticipate a split schedule, with a couple of early morning hours and a reopening in the late afternoon.

Troy resident Greg Rossel, who attended the meeting, said while he wished the hours weren’t reduced, he is glad the postal service didn’t go with the alternative and close the office.

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“I’m a big believer in the post office. Post offices are a little like schools or churches are to maintaining community character and infrastructure,” he said.

Rossel said having a local post office is key to shipping for his boat building business. Without a local office, he said, he and other rural residents would need to travel to find an alternative for buying stamps, shipping packages and using the post office’s other services.

“If you live in a rural area and you have a business, you would have to travel miles to go to someplace,” Rossel said. “The post office is right there and it’s reliable.”

Michelle Neal, who went to the Troy post office Friday morning, said she stops by regularly to use the service for her small business, which sells weighted products for children with autism.

Neal said having the local post office open for fewer hours will make using the Troy office less convenient, but said she was glad it did not close.

“I have to physically go to the post office for my business,” she said.

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Down the road from the post office at the Troy General Store, Delton and Becky Curtis said they also count on having a local post office for their local business.

Becky Curtis said the two were headed to the post office, and for their tree and nursery business in Thorndike, customers like to get paper bills in the mail and they use also use the post office for shipping.

“And they go above and beyond in customer service,” Delton Curtis said.

He said that while they are residents of Thorndike, the Troy office is closer to their home; but a cutback on hours could make using the Troy office less convenient.

Kaitlin Schroeder — 861-9252

kschroeder@centralmaine.com


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