Devon Post Office

09/02/2006 AS PUBLISHED ON THE NEW HAVEN REGISTER WEB SITE

Post office hours to be only slightly curtailed

Chris Rhatigan , Register Staff

MILFORD — A deal pushed through by a neighborhood advocate will keep the hours at the post office in Devon relatively intact, after the U.S. Postal Service threatened to drastically reduce its hours.

Original plans by Postal Service called for the post office at 548 Naugatuck Ave. to be open 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. because of a lack of customer traffic, according to spokesman Carl Walton. Also, one of the two positions from the office would be lost. Currently, the post office is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an hour lunch break.

However, negotiations between the advocate, Suzanne Cahill-Manning, and Postmaster Deborah Kendzior resulted in a different arrangement, according to Democratic Town Chairman Richard Smith. The post office will remain open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a break from 1:30 to 3 p.m., according to Postal Service spokeswoman Christine Dugas.

Kendzior could not be reached for comment. Cahill-Manning ran for the Board of Aldermen as a Democrat and lost in a close race to Martin Hardiman for the 3rd District last year. She said the extra 30 minutes in the break during the afternoon will allow the staff to handle paperwork.

Dugas said she did not know whether one of the staff positions will be eliminated. She also did not know why there was a change.

But Cahill-Manning said Kendzior was "responsive to the feedback from the community," which led to the change. "It’s such a benefit. This is a good compromise," she said. Cahill-Manning said the staff at the office will be reduced to one. She said the effort of legislators also helped the compromise.

State House Speaker James A. Amann, D-Milford, said he contacted U.S. Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman and Christopher J. Dodd, both D-Conn., regarding the situation. John Dirzius, president of the Greater Connecticut Area Local Postal Workers Union, said the Postal Service received communications from the legislators recently.

The potential loss of hours caused an uproar from community activists, who said it would be inconvenient for residents to have to travel to the downtown or Pepe’s Farm Road offices. Last week, GOP Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. said there was "little recourse" to the Postal Service’s plan to shut down the Devon location early.

Smith said that while Richetelli gave up on the issue, Democrats vowed to fight for the citizens of Devon. "I think it demonstrates the commitment Democrats have to the community. We realized there was a need in Devon," Smith said.

Richetelli could not be reached for comment.

The changes in hours at the office will begin Sept. 11.

Chris Rhatigan can be reached at 876-6800 or crhatigan@nhregister.com.