Residents fear planned closure of post office

<p>Time is running out for the Annapolis post office, which is scheduled to close Oct. 1, leaving the tiny burg without mail service for the first time in more than a century.</p><p>“This is a very rural area; there are only two things here, the post office and the school,” said 30-year resident Jane Simmonds.</p><p>Horicon Elementary School has been suggested as a site for a replacement post office and has an empty portable that could be used, said school Superintendent Suzanne Roy.</p><p>The school board on Wednesday, however, instructed Roy to concentrate on the school and educating the students, but also said it could be open to a proposal.</p><p>“We would have to look at the implications of having something on the campus — safety and liability,” if a proposal is submitted, Roy said.</p><p>Although Roy is new to the school, which has 80 students, she said it is apparent that the loss of the post office service would create a hardship. The closest post offices are in Stewarts Point, a 20-minute drive, and Gualala, a 30-minute drive.</p><p>“We are aware the post office has been such an integral part of the community and the inconvenience of having to go elsewhere, but our responsibility is to take care of the learning and educational needs of the students,” Roy said.</p><p>Post Office spokesman Jim Wigdel said the agency intends to continue service to Annapolis, but as of now doesn't know how to do so.</p><p>“The options are limited as far as a building and land, but we are doing our best to find a location for the post office and maintain deliveries, but it is too soon to speculate about the future,” Wigdel said.</p><p>The few hundred residents of Annapolis, named after an orchard founded there in the 1880s, are scattered throughout the hills in homes on dirt or gravel driveways.</p><p>Since 1902, they have been served by a post office leased from the family of Dorothy and Gary Craig, but the family is no longer interested in maintaining the property.</p><p>The tiny wooden building, which acts as a hub for the community, has 64 post office boxes and a route with 98 boxes, said Postmaster Rae Brodjski.</p><p>“It's the same building, 213 square feet, no running water,” she said. “It does have lights and heat and a phone.” Brodjski, postmaster for 25 years, said she could not talk about the situation.</p><p>Wigdel said postal officials have asked the Craig family to extend the lease while they search for a new site. “It is up in the air at the moment,” he said. “They had responded they did not want to, but we continue to ask the question.”</p><p>The Postal Service has a mobile post office that could be set up, but that requires a site and utilities, and they could also set up mobile post office boxes, Wigdel said.</p><p>“Until we have something definitive, I don't want to speculate on the future, but the bottom line is that whatever happens we are committed to maintaining service to the community,” Wigdel said.</p><p>Annapolis resident Simmonds said the community is holding onto hope.</p><p>“We'd be happy to find a temporary site for six months or a year and then work on a permanent site,” he said.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com.</p>