The Frisco post office returned to normal operations last week after recent staffing shortages forced the U.S. Postal Service to reduce its hours at the location.

Operations slowed to a crawl late last month after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. As a result of the subsequent staffing shortage, the Postal Service temporarily reduced its hours to 1-5 p.m. on weekdays. The service was able to bring in extra help from other post offices around Summit County and the Front Range, and the Frisco location reopened with normal 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours Thursday, Dec. 3.

According to Postal Service officials, the situation in Frisco is just another example of widespread problems created by the ongoing pandemic.

“Like a lot of other businesses, COVID-19 has impacted us and our staffing,” said David Rupert, communications manager with the Postal Service. “We have instances where we’re flexing our resources to borrow from other places. … Obviously, in smaller communities and offices, that has a bigger impact on us, especially this time of year. … So I know they rushed a lot of people up there to help.”

While the Postal Service worked to remedy the issue, local officials also launched into discussions about how to get help to the office quickly. Frisco Town Manager Nancy Kerry approached the post office last month to offer staffing assistance, which the service was forced to decline due to strict hiring policies for federal employees.

Last week, the town turned to local congressmen for assistance, reaching out to Rep. Joe Neguse and Sen. Michael Bennet to work with their government liaisons to get supplemental help brought to the Frisco office.

With the staffing problem solved for now, Frisco officials also are starting early discussions to see if local mail services could be improved more holistically.

Frisco Director of Communications Vanessa Agee pointed to topics like street delivery and the fact that few residents in Summit County are able to get mail delivered or picked up from their homes and instead rely on post office boxes. Agee said conversations on ways to potentially improve services in the area are in the very early stages and that officials initially will be looking into better understanding the current conditions, hurdles to expanding operations and community needs moving forward.

“Obviously, in the short term, the fix needs to be making sure the post offices around the county are staffed to meet holiday demand at a time when people are making sacrifices to stay at home and not visiting their families,” Agee said. “… But we’ve opened the door to those conversations, so why don’t we keep it open and talk more about rural mail delivery? It’s not a lack of focus on what’s happening in the immediate but trying to also take advantage when you have the attention of leaders.”