Marlin post office is under review, may close

MARLIN - The Marlin post office is one of roughly 3,700 offices nationwide the US Postal Service is considering closing.

The post office is the only one in Grant County on the list of 39 offices in Washington the service identified in a recently released plan to cut costs.

US Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe stated roughly 35 percent of the service's revenue comes from locations such as grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, retail chains, self-service kiosks, ATMs and usps.com.

"Our customer's habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business," he stated.

The Marlin post office was listed as one of the locations the service may close in an attempt to save money, but Postal Service spokesman Ernie Swanson said it's not definite the office will close. Each of the offices will be examined based on criteria such as revenue, how close it is to other post offices, and whether a career postmaster is at the location.

"These offices were just identified (Tuesday,)" he said. "It will be up to management in the Seattle district office. If it appears to make good business sense to close the office the next step would be to get input from the public."

To get public input, the district office will distribute questionnaires and hold public meetings, explaining what is planned, Swanson said. The recommended closures would be sent to the regional office in Denver, where it would be judged again.

"(The Seattle office) would make a recommendation, 'We think the Ajax post office should be closed,'" he said. "The people in Denver would look at that ... They could say, 'You didn't make a good case.' They could say, 'Yes, you've done a good job,' or they could ask for more information."

If the Seattle office decides to close the Marlin location, public hearings aren't likely to start until September or October.

If the office is closed, the service may choose to provide service to the area by entering into an agreement with a business in the area to accept packages and sell stamps, or extend existing rural routes, Swanson said.

"Rural letter carriers are considered post offices on wheels because they can accept packages and sell stamps, so they would assist if we close the post office," he said.

The recent announcement is the most recent look at closing offices in the area, Swanson said. The service looked at closing about 600 to 700 offices in the state starting a couple years ago. About 100 were closed.

"The whole reason is to cut costs. We're losing $23 million a day and there's no government funding," he said. "We have a line of credit through the federal government. We can borrow against that and we do survive."