Tiny North Apollo takes on U.S. Postal Service over missed mail

North Apollo’s electric bill for a storage building never arrived. The borough’s council president and vice president didn’t receive bank statements for their taxes, and the owner of a local diner had to use her personal post office box for business mail.

That’s just a sampling of complaints from public officials and residents over not always receiving their mail in a town where there are no mailboxes dotting the fronts of homes or businesses.

The U.S. mail for the borough’s 550-plus households must be delivered only to post office boxes in the North Apollo post office. That is nothing new.

However, the local post office decided in October and January to reject some mail addressed to township residents without a P.O. Box number.

“I have lived here since 1993 and have never had an issue like this in the past,” council President Ray Rusz said. “We’re having big-time problems because the post office decided to enforce an archaic policy.

“We’re being victimized. We cannot control how someone addresses a piece of correspondence to us.”

Adding to Rusz’s irritation, he still has no problem receiving junk mail in his postal box.

“I just threw away some Domino’s pizza ads,” he said.

Residents say North Apollo post office employees have threatened to return mail not sufficiently addressed to borough residents. An employee there referred media inquiries to Mark Lawrence, strategic communications specialist with the U.S. Postal Service Atlantic Area.

“Pieces of mail not bearing an accurate address may be returned to sender,” Lawrence wrote in an email to the Tribune-Review. “P.O. Box holders in North Apollo are reminded that their street address is not their mailing address.”

The post office is instructing residents that letters addressed to them must only use their P.O. Box, while packages should have both a resident’s street address and their P.O. Box number.

Federal lawmakers step in

North Apollo’s mail problems are an unfortunate and largely unplanned collusion of shipping complications for online purchases along with automated address labeling. Recent changes in North Apollo Post Office practices made the problem worse.

The problem is so severe that U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson are trying to work out the problems with the postal service. Residents can contact both lawmakers with complaints.

“The P.O. Box requirement clearly isn’t working for folks in North Apollo,” said Natalie Adams, Casey’s press secretary.

Previously, Casey’s office has gone after Postmaster General Louis Dejoy for mail delays, staffing problems and other issues in the state, she added.

Thompson launched an inquiry with the U.S. Postal Service about issues in North Apollo, according to a statement from his press office: “We are eagerly awaiting the USPS’s response and a timely resolution.”

Living through the mail

The town’s diminutive post office, its front window decorated with handmade, paper Valentine’s Day hearts, is as busy with foot traffic as Held’s Shop ’n Save across the street.

North Apollo Mayor June Kilgore said beside recent changes at her local post office, the glaring problem is that going to the post office is the only way the town can get its mail.

“We don’t have a choice,” she said.

Recent problems with the local post office have become “a handicap for the town,” she said.

Kilgore has had personal mail, including bills, sent back to the sender. Expecting to receive those bills, Kilgore made phone calls and resolved the issue.

“The elderly are my concern,” she said. “What happens if they didn’t get their bills and their electricity is shut off?”

Ordering online has become a challenge because a lot of vendors don’t accept P.O. Box addresses, she said.

For instance, FedEx won’t deliver any package with a P.O. Box address, said Austin Kemker, FedEx spokesman.

Physical addresses are the only options for FedEx deliveries.

“If you can know ahead of time if someone is shipping through FedEx, put down your physical address,” Kemker said.

Kilgore takes a more conciliatory attitude with the local post office.

“We need a compromise here so residents can receive their mail,” Kilgore said. “If a birthday card is sent to you and the sender doesn’t know your P.O. Box, they will send it back?”

Residents impacted by mail issues in North Apollo can contact Sen. Bob Casey’s Constituent Services at 866-461-9159 or casey.senate.gov/contact/assistance or U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson at 814-670-0432 or thompson.house.gov/contact.