After being a mainstay of their community for 129 years, Cook Springs is facing the possibility of their post office being closed.

Representatives from the United States Postal Service held a town hall meeting in Cook Springs on May 5 to field questions from the community.

The meeting was the second of its kind to be held in Cook Springs, after the first meeting was not properly advertised in the community.

According to USPS Marketing Director Reginald Capers, Cook Springs is just one of the 40 post offices in Alabama that are slated for possible closure due to the dire financial straits the USPS is in.

“The Postal Service lost $8 billion last year, and another $6 to $7 billion [loss] is projected this year,” Capers said. “Mail pieces that are being sent are dropping, and we have less mail then we’ve ever had before. The organization is in a serious crisis.”

Capers said the USPS has suggested elimination of prefunding of benefits to future and current employees, as well as cutting to a five-day delivery week, as methods to cut costs, but both initiatives have been rejected by the US legislature. These problems have led the USPS to explore reducing expenditures by closing offices.

“We have to reduce our operational costs, so every post office in the country is being evaluated,” Capers said. “We can’t make up the money by just discontinuing post offices, I can tell you that.”

Cook Springs was targeted, he said, because it does not technically have a postmaster. Currently, the office is run by an Officer in Charge/Carrier Relief agent due to a hiring freeze on postmasters which Capers said may be lifted by June.

While a Post Office’s revenue can’t be used to determine whether or not they close, Capers said the net income of the post office last year was a negative $15,000 to $17,000, and has been steadily falling for the last few years.

But figures alone don’t accurately show the perceived value of the historic landmark. The Post Office brings mail and medicine into the area for two nursing homes, other businesses and many postal customers who don’t feel comfortable receiving mail in roadside boxes along Highway 78. It’s also the only place in town to purchase stamps.   

Should the Cook Springs Post Office close, post office boxes will be moved to the Moody Post Office, and postal routes will be rerouted to continue serving the community.

Dozens of residents who showed up for the meeting asked questions, but were not satisfied with the answers they were getting.

“What are you going to do to fight for us? Are you even going to?” one woman asked.

“I’m not going to do that,” Capers responded.

“You’re just doing this [meeting] to satisfy the requirements? That’s not very comforting,” another member of the audience replied.

Capers reminded the audience that no decisions have been finalized to close any post offices. The public hearings are simply a required step in the process to submit a proposal for approval.

Residents argued that the Cropwell Post Office should be closed, due to its proximity to the Pell City Post Office. Those two offices are less than two miles from each other.

However, Capers said the Cropwell office is being proposed for consolidation instead of closure. The front part of the Cropwell office would remain open to sell stamps and other products, while the carrier operations would move to the Pell City office.

“You’re discriminating against us because we live in a rural area,” one audience member accused.

 “Any proposal causes a hardship, but this is a business decision,” Capers said.

As the 1.5-hour meeting continued, residents brought up concerns with the price of gas and pollution involved with everyone in the Cook Springs area driving to Pell City or Moody to pick up mail, the ability to receive packages and the possibility of the office closing as retaliation against a Cook Springs Post Office employee who won a lawsuit against the USPS.

By the end, many residents were frustrated with the process and opted to contact their state and national legislators to garner support for the Cook Springs Post Office.

“The president is trying to bring us out of the recession by creating jobs and other things, so cutting when the president is trying to get us back on a straight path seems to go against what he’s trying to do. Management needs to try harder,” one resident said.