Operations Suspended
WASHINGTON TWP — A 145-year-old institution in Hilliards came to an apparent abrupt end one afternoon last month.
That's when the U.S. Postal Service dismantled the Hilliards Post Office, taking the outside sign, post office boxes, stamps and everything else, loading them onto four trucks and departing.
Barb Cook and her husband, Lee, have owned the building that formerly housed the post office. She said there was no advanced notice of the shutdown that took place at noon Oct. 18.
“We were told that day by the mail carrier,” said Barb Cook.
Cook said the closing of the post office has left some patrons having to drive four miles to the Boyers Post Office to pick up their mail.
“They told us that nobody who came here to pick up their mail could put up a mail box. They have to drive to Boyers,” said Cook.
She believes the closing was caused by a rent dispute between the Cooks and the postal service.
“For 31 years, we were getting $338 a month,” she said. “Last year, we put in a new floor, roof and bathroom that cost $8,000. We have to pay the taxes and insurance.”
Earlier this year, the Cooks asked for a rent increase to $400 a month.
The increase would barely pay for the salt the Cooks would have to buy in the winter to keep the ramp to the post office door open and to pay someone to shovel snow.
“We tried to keep it open but to no avail,” she said.
She said the lease with the postal service ended on Oct. 31.
She added there hasn't been a permanent postmaster in the past 18 months, since the last one, Donna Thompson, retired, just a series of temporary fill-ins.
Tad Kelley, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman, said currently the Hilliard's post office has suspended operations due to a lease termination.Kelley said the closure might not be permanent.“The office is not closed. It is suspended and while we investigate our options we cannot establish street delivery,” Kelley said. “ As soon as a decision is made we will be able to provide more permanent options for mail delivery. As of right now the mail can be picked up at the Boyers Post Office.”“All efforts are being made to expedite the decision and provide interim measures for the customers' convenience,” said Kelley.Whatever its ultimate fate, the closing of the post office puts an end to the last social gathering place in this once-bustling town.Hilliards resident and Cook's brother-in-law Daryl Cook said, “I was born and raised in Hilliards. It's strange that we have to go to Boyers for our mail.”And the closing leaves a sour tasted in Barb Cook's mouth.The sign that her husband painted was removed from over the front door, and the movers even removed an interior door from the former post office.The Cooks are left with an empty building and unhappiness at their treatment.“Nobody will insure it because it is an empty building,” said Cook. “I don't know who will buy it.”“I sent the postal service a letter,” she said. “I said 'After 31 years, this is the way you treat us? I thank you.'”
