Hawleyville Post Office Remains In Limbo

By Nancy K. Crevier

The month-to-month lease agreement for the building occupied by the Hawleyville Post Office on Route 25, that the United States Postal Service has held with the Housatonic Railroad for the past year, is turning into a day-to-day event, according to Hawleyville Postmaster Mark Favale and USPS spokesperson Maureen Marion.

The USPS was served with an eviction notice for the small post office on Tuesday, September 30, stating that the USPS Hawleyville Post Office would need to be out of the space by October 31. Since then, said Ms Marion on Thursday, October 23, the legal department of the USPS and the Housatonic Railroad representatives have been “actively involved in a discussion regarding an extension to the lease.”

The lack of a decision has left Mr Favale and his staff in a quandary, unable to answer customers’ questions as to where mail will be delivered and if they can expect to pick up mail at the Route 25 branch after Friday, October 31. “They haven’t told us anything yet,” said Mr Favale last Thursday.

“We are trying to give this absolutely the fullest chance for this situation to resolve,” Ms Marion said. “This is not easy for anybody. We are trying to come up with the best solution and don’t want to jump over the fence at this time.” Ms Marion went on to say that customers would be notified as soon as any resolution had been reached.

Every post office always has a contingency plan in place in case of emergencies, such as natural disasters or fire, said Ms Marion. “There are a couple of options open for the Hawleyville Post Office, including a relocation,” she said last Thursday. “Most likely, the post office would be co-locating at Newtown [on Commerce Road].”

As of Tuesday, October 28, Mr Favale had not yet been given any definitive answer as to the fate of the post office branch, leaving the postmaster and his clerks, as well as the hundreds of post office box holders and businesspeople in the area, in limbo.