A late snow in a small town might slow down the traffic, but it can't delay the final days for one of the community's gathering spots.
"This is when they see each other," said Parkman Township, Ohio Trustee Dennis Ikeler. "At the post office."
Ikeler says after decades leasing out the building to the post office, the landlords told the township they don't think the building is safe enough for the public. They terminated the lease with a 30-day notice. The U.S. Postal Service says they'll be out by April 28th.
The problem is that a lot of homes in the center of the town don't have any curbside delivery or mailboxes to receive mail. The more than 200 boxes inside the small post office have been their only option. When the building closes at the end of the month, they'll have the option to pay for individual boxes at their homes or have their P.O. box transferred to the Middlefield, Ohio Post Office, about seven miles away.
Ikeler says traveling a few miles for mail isn't a big deal for most people he's talked to, but Catherine Dudich says it could be an issue for others.
"There's quite a lot of elderly people that live in the community and they can't get out every day to go get their mail," said Dudich. "It's sad that all these little communities are going by the wayside."
Parkman residents say their P.O. Boxes have been free when they are normally rented out for a few months at a time. Residents say they've been told they'll continue to get their P.O. Boxes free of charge, even once they move to another location.
