Settlers Bay post office abruptly closes

UPDATE: On Monday, the USPS Office of the Inspector General said it had launched an investigation into accusations of slow mail delivery at the Settlers Bay post office.

WASILLA -- Surprise quickly turned to anger on Saturday when Settlers Bay residents found the community’s post office had been shuttered overnight.

“I’m furious, and I’m being as calm as I can,” said Greg Busch, who lives in Settlers Bay.

Busch and his wife, Kathy, went to the Wasilla Post Office on Saturday hoping to get answers to where and when they could pick up their mail. When they found that office had already closed for the day the couple found themselves out of options. They said they learned – like most people – that the Settlers Bay office was closed via a notice posted on the window at that location Saturday.

According to the note posted by Unit Manager Nina Vignola, the U.S. Postal Service had abruptly terminated the office’s contract.

“I do not know if this situation is temporary. PLEASE bare this wait with us the next week while we negotiate and see if USPS is actually cancelling the contract,” Vignola wrote.

Settlers Bay resident Bob Winckler said residents first became concerned when they saw moving trucks pulling up to the post office doors on Friday night.

“Last night at 8 p.m. there were trucks cleaning out the office,” Winckler said.

Winckler said the sudden closure of the post office has neighborhood residents extremely concerned.

“People are going to be freaked out they can’t get their mail,” said Winckler, who reported that concerned residents were gathering outside the closed office on Saturday afternoon. He said another notice on the door was directing people to the Wasilla Post Office to get their mail.

Representatives from the U.S. Postal Service could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

The Settlers Bay office is managed by Vignola and operated by she and a staff of three clerks. In a separate post Vignola put on Facebook, she said the contract had apparently been canceled because of issues the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) had with mail delivery at the location.

“We were technically closed by OIG for third class magazines (Cabelas, Harriet Carter-October issue but deliver by Sep. 8^th AARP etc) and mis sorted first class mail delivered to the wrong p.o. but resent to us for sort and delivery,” she wrote.

Vignola said her staff had been doing everything it could to ensure the timely delivery of mail despite the area’s rapidly-growing population, and that the contract owner had been in talks with the USPS before the abrupt closure.

“Please realize our volume has grown and staff needs to grow with volume to keep our delivery times to our customers accurate per USPS regulations. We had problems meeting these regulations “on the clock” and to process this large volume accurately.”

The contract is owned by Chuck Spinelli, who Vignola wrote had no prior knowledge of Saturday’s closure. Spinelli could not immediately be reached for comment and did not return a message left Saturday morning.

Vignola wrote that people looking for help have been directed to call 1-800-ASK-USPS.

In another Facebook post, Vignola expressed both sympathy and sadness for the office’s customers.

“I am sorry for the short notice. I am here cleaning my office out after 10 years for nothing,” she wrote.

Greg Busch said the closure of the post office is a major inconvenience for people who must now travel to Wasilla to pick up their mail.

“Someone call the mayor, someone call the governor,” he said.

Bob Winckler said the whole situation could have been handled much differently.

“It’s really a screwed up mess,” he said.