The United States Postal Service has decided to shutter the Dakota Central Mail Processing Center in Huron and shfit it’s workload to Sioux Falls…
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/02/dakcentclose1.mp3|titles=dakcentclose1]Huron Chamber and Visitor’s Bureau executive director Peggy Woolridge says the effects of losing the job associated with Dakota Central go beyond the property lines of the building…
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/02/dakcentclose2.mp3|titles=dakcentclose2]A public hearing regarding the Postal Services idea to close the Dakota Central facility was held in late December. Many in attendance that night believed a decision about Dakota Central would come in the spring….
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/02/dakcentclose3.mp3|titles=dakcentclose3]Postal Service Spokeman Pete Nowacki says a specific closing date for Dakota Central will not be made until a change in mail delivery standards is approved
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/02/dakcentclose4.mp3|titles=dakcentclose4]Dakota Central will operate as normal as moritorium on postal closures is in effect until the May 15th date. And if mail delivery standards are not changed, does Dakota Central stay open?…
[audio:http://prprt.itmwpb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/688/2012/02/dakcentclose5.mp3|titles=dakcentclose5]The Postal Service has seen a 25-percent decline in First Class Mail volumes since 2006, forcing the consolidation effort. The study on a similar facility in Rapid City concluded that no gains in effeicency or service would be gained by closing it, so the West River sorting and distribution plant will continue opertatons for the time being. Huron Mayor Dave is critizing the plan to close Dakota Central saying the Postal Service ignored testimony at the December public hearing, believing the decision had already been made. McGirr’s full statement is below.
Huron Mayor David McGirr today criticized the announcement by the USPS that they will close the Dakota Central Mail Processing facility in Huron. “Over 100 people attended a public hearing in late December to dispute the methodology used to justify the closure,” said Mayor McGirr. “Despite pointing out numerous flaws in the study, the USPS has ignored the testimony and moved forward with a decision that was apparently made before they even held the hearing.”
The U.S. Postal Service has been bleeding red ink for several years as the nation has increasingly turned away from traditional first-class mail to electronic communication, but the USPS study forecast it would save $2.2 million a year if Dakota Central was closed and consolidated with the Sioux Falls facility. However, McGirr and other local officials disputed the touted cost savings of consolidation, and McGirr also requested a separate study to assess how the planned slowing of First Class Mail would affect mail volume. “To believe that a significant reduction in service will not be followed by a decline in users of that service is ridiculous and irresponsible,” said McGirr
McGirr pointed to numerous statements from USPS officials as evidence that the decision was flawed, including the fact that savings were based primarily on an immediate reduction in jobs, most of which will take years to actually occur; and they did not take into account the cost of building additional facilities in Sioux Falls for an estimated $5 Million dollars, along with what USPS officials described as an ‘unknown cost’ for expanded equipment to handle the additional mail in Sioux Falls.
“By their own admission at the meeting in Huron, the USPS has not factored in the cost of paying employees in Huron until the end of their union contract because they are located too far from Sioux Falls to require them to relocate; nor did they account for cost of maintaining the empty building in Huron or the likely loss of mail volume due to the change from ‘next day service’ to a slower “2 to 3 day service’ in their study,” said McGirr, who testified against the closure at the USPS public meeting held in December.
McGirr pointed out that the USPS only has one profitable service amongst their many offerings, and that is First Class Mail. “They are going to take the only thing that is working for them and reduce the level of service to a point where a large number of their profitable customers will change to electronic mail in order to ensure timely delivery,” said McGirr. “I can’t think of a single business model where businesses in trouble have been saved by raising prices and reducing service,” said McGirr. “If the USPS continues on this track they will make themselves only a footnote in history books within a couple of decades; they will be listed next to the Pony Express.”
McGirr noted that while 14 new positions would be added in Sioux Falls, the USPS would be required by contract to pay the existing 45-50 workers in Huron their full salary whether they have any work for them in the Huron area or not. “This cost was not included in the USPS study,” said McGirr. “They have also ignored the fact that mail volume at Dakota Central is increasing and would climb more after the planned 2012 closings of facilities in Pierre and Aberdeen. Huron could be processing record amounts of mail when they shutter the doors,” according to McGirr.
According to the USPS, implementation of this consolidation is contingent upon the outcome of pending rulemaking for a proposal to revise existing service standards. “Hopefully our Congressional members will intercede and stop the USPS from imploding by going down this destructive path,” said McGirr.