Editor:

Open letter to Mike Kelly, officer of the Casper Post Office, regarding our mail delivery in the North Mountain View Improvement District:

Our area had a "single preference of delivery" of our mail prior to March 23, 2007. For more than 50 years the Postal Service delivered our mail to road side boxes at the front of our property. This was changed to the cluster box units, giving our residents two days notice.

The Postal Operations Manual clearly outlines procedures necessary for changes in delivery service. Safety for the mail carriers was referenced for this change due to the street construction project, and we were advised that once complete, we would have a "preference of delivery."

The Postal Service has the lists of names on the petitions opposed to the collection box units.

Mr. Kelly, you suggested having a meeting with the residents in the area in November 2007, when darkness comes before 6:00 p.m. You were advised that many do not get out after dark and many work late at night, so a meeting of a few to make the decision for all just didn't make good sense.

Thus, the suggestion of a letter to all residents was to arrive at a suitable solution, rather than a letter of criteria for installing the mail boxes. Some residents have installed the mail Boxes according to the written criteria but, because not all residents prefer roadside delivery, those efforts are useless.

A letter of April 16, 2007, from the Casper postmaster states: "Please rest assured that we will reevaluate this situation upon completion of the construction project. Once the construction is complete, we will be contacting you and asking for your input prior to making any decision." Guess you decided against that also.

Mr. Kelly, opinions have been overstated: Had the Postal Service sent out letters to all residents allowing a written reply "vote" on the choice of mail delivery as promised, everyone's time and efforts would not have been wasted, and this issue would have been resolved months ago.

It appears that our Postal Service can and will do whatever they please without regard to the residents of this community, mainly to the elderly and disabled.

Mr. Kelly, we're still waiting to hear from you.

ELSIE HERBORT, Mills

President, North Mountain View

Improvement District