Hill To USPS: Keep Kilby Open

Seniors without cars or checking accounts rely on it as a walk-to bank. Nearby businesses mail thousands of old-fashioned letters monthly. Neighbors chat by its mailboxes. And it makes money. So, neighbors asked, why is the Kilby branch post office in the Hill on the chopping block again?

They asked that question directly at public meeting Tuesday night.

As the U.S. Postal Service reels into possible bankruptcy and ponders consolidation of smaller facilities as part of a new business model for survival in the Age of Email, officials are considering closing Kilby Station along with Westville’s historic Fountain Street branch and Amity/ Whalley Avenue outpost, as they did two years ago.

The two branches are among 35 others in the state and 3,700 nationally out of a total of 32,000 offices that are the subject of what the postal service calls ​“a discontinuance feasibility study.”

As part of that study, New Haven Postmaster Elvin Mercado convened Tuesday night’s meeting for public comment about Kilby at the main facility on Brewery Street.

Wednesday night a similar meeting is scheduled to discuss the fate of the Amity Station.

Tuesday night a dozen business people and local residents like James and Helen Dawson (pictured) testified to Kilby’s value. Especially for low-income elderly people who are always picked on, said James Dawson.

Postmaster Mercado demurred. All the stations on the list met criteria set nationally, he said. They included, over the last two years, decreased customer visits; insufficient employee workload; and proximity of alternate access offices.

Kilby has 757 installed post boxes, of which 491 are rented. Its revenue is trending down from $377,320 in 2007 to $318,996 in 2010. The building’s annual rent is $47,500. Projected annual savings from closing the branch: $265,418.

Attendees disputed all those points, as did customers interviewed earlier in the day, such as Clayton Henderson. He emphasized the importance of money orders as part of a local banking system. ​“For regular bill paying, it’s often the Kilby Station. Sometimes it’s so crowded with money order buyers, I’ve waited a half an hour,” he said.

Harriet Bynum (pictured with U.S. Postal Service Corporate Communications spokesperson Christine Dugas) presented a five-page petition with 653 names, many from teachers and other staff from Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy (across the street from Kilby), Hill Central, and Career High School.

“Many teachers work long hours and their local p.o is closed,” she said.

Bynum hit shared themes when she said the poor elderly can’t afford to go to Yale Station at High and Elm. Several others who have cars called the trip to Yale Station a tough drive with no convenient parking at the end. (Kilby has a small lot. Many of its customers walk.)

“Women with children or the elderly trying to catch a bus downtown just to catch a letter seems a ridiculous proposition,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (through spokesperson Lou Mangini), state Rep Juan Candelaria, and Mayor John DeStefano (through staffer Rebecca Bombero) sent letters to Postmaster Patrick Donohue hitting these themes, namely that the postal service’s calculus fails to take in local characteristics.

Business people like Richard Lebov and Vin DiLauro agreed. Lebov runs the Supreme Storage Trailer business; he heads the Boulevard Business Association, which represents 28 business on or near Ella Grasso Boulevard.

“Eighty-five percent of my business is through the U.S. mail. I bring in a couple thousand pieces every month,” he said.

Christine Dugas said that the passion she heard among the customers was not new: in effect everyone loves the local post office. Yet something’s got to give. She reiterated familiar facts: ​“We have 25 percent less first class mail than five years ago.”

And as revenue declines, costs have gone up: ​“Gas price goes up one cent. That’s $8 million to the post office” because the fleet of vehicles is second only in number to the armed forces, she said.

One solution was offered by Bob Johnson, president of the American Postal Union. In 1997, the postal service was required to prepay $5.5 billion every year in advance for the health care of future employees. So the service starts $5.5 billion in the hole each year.

“If we didn’t have that prepayment, we’d have had a profit in five of the last six years,” he said.

Dugas disagreed. ​“The $5.5 billion was due Sept. 30, and we haven’t paid it.” She said the decision was to pay the bill and not default, or deliver the mail.

“There are three [other post offices] within two miles” of Kilby, Dugas noted.

The comment period goes on for 60 days. Then a committee in Washington takes the verbal comments made Tuesday as well as survey results into account and makes the final decision. The decision in New Haven will be made in D.C. by a committee.That’s likely to happen early next year.