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Postal Service OKs free boxes for some

Jane Stebbins

BRECKENRIDGE – Some post office boxholders will receive a letter next month saying they will no longer have to pay annual box rental fees.

Those who qualify can get their post office box rental fees waived beginning Jan. 31.

The issue comes to light periodically when people complain about the few neighborhoods that receive home delivery in Summit County or when post office boxholders learn that some of their friends don’t have to pay box rental fees.



“Summit County is a unique situation,” said public information officer Al DeSarro. “It’s one of the fastest growing counties, and when you have that, you’re definitely going to have changes. The good thing is we’re moving forward.”

U.S. Postal Service officials met this fall to iron out inconsistencies in their policies and let town managers throughout Summit County know the change would occur soon.



“Our goal is to provide everybody with some form of free mail delivery,” said Sheryl Wilson, post office operations manager for Area 3, which includes Summit County. “But (the policy) can get confusing.”

Officials are double checking maps and addresses that will delineate who gets free boxes – and they’re in the middle of the service’s busiest time of the year, DeSarro said.

“This will greatly improve the situation,” he said. “This should make a lot of customers happier.”

Determining who gets free boxes and who still must pay will not be simple.

According to Wilson, residents are entitled to a free post office box only if the postal service does not offer delivery in their area and they live within town limits. If delivery is available, or has been offered and refused, then residents must pay for their boxes.

Current prices for a post office box range from $24 a year to $194 a year, depending on the size of the box.

Postal service policy would prevent anyone who qualifies for a free box from receiving repayment for the time they have already purchased.

While residents must petition to receive delivery service, such service is subject to a host of contingencies. Buildings and houses must be marked with 911 emergency system-registered addresses and all roads must be cleared.

If all the conditions are met, the post office will then install a collection box unit in a central location at its discretion, to which it will deliver the mail.

Sometimes, a developer in a new subdivision requests a box for residents, and if it’s located along an existing route, the postal agency will consider expanding that roadside service.

But the cost of installation and maintenance then falls to the neighbors or the town – a requirement that has deterred some from requesting delivery.

Door-to-door service is not available except in those areas where it has traditionally been provided. Those areas include Summit Cove, parts of Keystone, Blue River and parts of the area between Silverthorne and Kremmling.

Because residents petitioned for it, the post office maintains highway contract routes to these areas, though the percentage of residents who actually receive the service is not overwhelmingly large, said Rick Sprague, postmaster for the Dillon and Silverthorne offices. And because service is available to people along those routes, those who ask for a free post office box in town will likely be denied, Wilson said.

Dillon post office officials deliver mail to about 800 residences and have about 4,400 rented post office boxes at the main office and the Keystone contract station.

Silverthorne rents about 3,700 boxes and delivers to about 400 residences.

“It depends on the line of travel,” Wilson said of the agency’s criteria in deciding whether to expand service. “If people say, “I’m not putting a box on the highway,’ and we’ve offered the opportunity for delivery to that box, then they don’t qualify for a no-fee box.”

Jane Stebbins can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 228, or jstebbins@summitdaily.com.


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