By Clay LePard
clepard@cbs4qc.com
UPDATE: The Buffalo Post Office will reduce its hours of operation to 6 hours/day. Currently, the office is open for 8 hours/day.
According to USPS representative Richard Watkins, the new hours will take effect early next year.
Watkins says it's important for residents to still come out to the community meeting Thursday night so they can discuss the specifics of the post office's new hours of operation.
The Buffalo Post Office is just one of 13,000 offices facing reductions over the next two years.
Original Story:
Money woes continue for the U.S. Postal Service.
Its been two months since the USPS reported a loss of $5.2 billion.
Now here in the QCA, people are starting to see potential cuts affecting the way they get their mail.
Buffalo is just one of the first towns to discuss some form of cutbacks.
USPS representatives will announce the results of a survey that asked residents which kind of cut they would prefer.
"They're going to tell us how the survey results came out, and give us some general idea what they're going to do," says Doug Anderson, Buffalo Mayor.
The survey offered four different options:
1. Shortening the Post Office's hours of operation from 8 hours/day to 6 hours/day.
2. Switch to roadside delivery
3. Contract the services to a local business.
4. Close the Buffalo Post Office and have residents drive 5 miles to Blue Grass to get their mail.
At a city council meeting a couple of weeks ago, city leaders said they were really going to look into a way to relocate the post office to City Hall so the USPS wouldn't have to pay for a building.
That meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday at 326 Front Street, Buffalo.
