Apalachicola post office to cut back hours

Beginning Jan. 11, the Apalachicola post office is going to open later and close earlier on all five weekdays, with no change on Saturdays.

The move comes as part of cost cutting measures being taken throughout the county by the U.S. Postal Service, which lost $3.8 billion during the last fiscal year.

Alan Ballas, the officer-in-charge postmaster, in Apalachicola, at least until Jan. 8, when a new one takes over, said the hours will go from a 9 a.m. weekday opening to a 10 a.m. one, with closure at 4 p.m. rather than 4:30 p.m. The 9 a.m. to noon Saturday morning hours will remain unchanged.

“From 4 to 4:30 p.m. it’s just about dead in there,” said Ballas, who arrived on the job Dec. 22. “We’re trying to keep the highest level of service we can.”

He said consideration was given, as part of a study of various models, to being closed Wednesday afternoons, as used to be the case when the economy was different. The determination was made to avoid cutting out any peak time, he said.

Delivery will remain six days a week, with just window service affected. Home delivery will continue at the usual times, with a minor exception due to a change in one of the supplemental routes. No changes in hours are planned for Eastpoint and Carrabelle.

In addition, it is expected that more people will continue to turn to www.usps.com to “click and ship” packages directly through the Internet. “We’re working hard to educate customers,” said Ballas, noting that already about 15 percent rely on the Internet to buy postal products and services.

From Jan. 2007 to May 2009, Ballas, who has nearly 30 years in with the Postal Service, worked with a cost reduction team throughout the Southeast. Their task was to help in tailoring clerk hours to match people to workload.

“We’ve had a reduction all across the country,” he said, stressing that the Postal Service is self-supporting and not paid for out of tax revenues.

“The post office for the past 30 years has been paying its own way,” Ballas said. “We have not been bailed out by the government.”

He said the Postal Service’s $7 billion deficit is largely attributable to a pre-funding pension plan requirement that has the money in place through the year 2017. A bill passed by Congress this year will give the Postal Service more than $3 billion in relief.

In addition, there have been cutbacks throughout Florida, which is now served by three, rather than the previous four, districts.

These cutbacks have meant there are people waiting to be called back to work as positions open up, and that is one key reason a new postmaster should be in place within a month or so, as bidding is completed on the job.

In the meantime, Robin Laster is set to replace Ballas as the new officer in charge beginning Jan. 8.

Ballas will return to his post as Woodville postmaster, with fond memories of the three months he spent last summer managing the Apalachicola post office and this month’s stint.

“I have never been treated as well anywhere than in Apalachicola,” he said. "The staff here’s the finest. Everybody pitches in.

“You’re here with a group of people who really like their job,” he said. “Everybody has treated me with dignity and respect.

“We truly care and we’re going to do everything we can to keep a high level of service,” said Ballas. “We pride ourselves on service.”