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Residents Rally to Keep Post Office Open

Shelley Russell

RANDOLPH, IA (KPTM) - The U.S. Postal Service has announced significant cuts, creating quite the worry for residents in a small town outside Omaha, Neb.

Randolph, IA, has a population of less than 200.

"We have a bank that does a lot of business, not just with this community but with surrounding communities. We also have an elevator," said resident of 30-years Dave Heywood.

"We have the Post Office, the elevator and our bank," said President of Tri-City Bank and Randolph, IA, resident Jay Longinaker.

Both agree the Post Office is important to their small community.

They're among a handful of residents who are worried the building will be forced to close down.

"Under one proposal from the Post Office Department, our only service would be a rural carrier that came in once a day, put mail in a cluster of boxes, and pick up outgoing mail," said Longinaker.

"They would be paying someone from Malvern, IA, which is nine-miles away, to drive down here after he does his area up around Malvern," said Heywood.

This creates problems for same-day loan processing that Tri-City Bank employees pride themselves with. It would also create difficulties for the elderly, said Heywood.

"I think it will make our town really slow and create problems," added Heywood, saying he's afraid Randolph could turn into a ghost town should the Post Office shut down.

"We really want to keep our Post Office, and we're going to make sure they don't close it," said Longinaker, telling us the community is prepared to take their opinions to Washington D.C. if they need to.

The U.S. Postal Service was not available for comment Wednesday. They have not confirmed that Randolph's Post Office will be shutting down.

Residents in Randolph hosted a forum earlier this week at their Community Center. Heywood tells us over 200-people attended to share their concerns over losing the town's Post Office.