|
Harwinton Wants Its Own Post Office
By The Residents for the Future of Harwinton
Harwinton residents attending the town's biweekly selectmen's meeting on January 14 responded with a resounding "Yes!" to Selectman Joseph Scarpelli's question: "You want your own Post Office?" Although Scarpelli dissented, disputing the information handed to the selectmen and community members by Selectman Frank Chiaramonte, it was clear that residents and other town officials will oppose any moves by the Torrington Post Office to change any services or level of services to Harwinton.
Two newspaper articles in the previous days had indicated that the Torrington Post Office, of which the Harwinton Post Office is a substation, intends to move the base of Harwinton mail carriers out of Harwinton and into Torrington. As was explained to the selectmen and the members of the audience by Harwinton Historical Society President Stuart Bronson, one truck brings the mail down from Torrington daily for distribution to the Harwinton carriers. The proposed plan—a resurrection of a similar plan floated by the Torrington Post Office slightly more than two years ago, and quickly rescinded under community pressure—would have all four of our mail carriers reassigned to work directly from the Torrington Post Office. In the rescinded plan, the reassignment of mail carriers had been a first step in closing the Harwinton Post Office. Attendees at the January 14 meeting had little doubt that a similar plan to close the Harwinton Post Office was in the cards again.
"The post office is a big part of our community; this is the first step to closing it," said former Selectman Peter Salwocki, who attended the meeting, urging First Selectman Marie Knudsen to resurrect the petition she circulated among town residents last time this threat arose. Salwocki noted that closing the post office would have a devastating effect on the small shops adjacent to it in the shopping plaza. "Maybe it's not a bad idea to resurrect that petition," Knudsen replied.
Harwinton town Attorney Michael Ryback and lifelong Harwinton resident Marion Thierry briefly discussed the history of how Harwinton lost its own post office with the establishment of Rural Route delivery. Harwinton has not had its own post office since.
Selectman Chiaramonte noted that with removal of the mail carriers to Torrington, Harwinton's level of postal services would suffer. Currently, he said, "You can drop off local mail between eight and nine-thirty in the morning; you will get delivery that day." That will disappear with the carrier move, as all mail will come out of Torrington. If you were to miss a package, certified mail or Express Mail delivery, Chiaramonte said, "you would either have to go to Torrington to get it or wait until the next day when it's called in" to Harwinton. This is a hardship to all members of the community, and a particular one for people living in the south part of town, miles away from Torrington, and for small businesses.
Local residents say the problem is not that the Harwinton Post Office is lacking for business. "There is a greater need for postal boxes than there are boxes available," said Selectman Chiaramonte. Additional post office boxes could be supplied if the current post office substation were to expand into space already rented for it right next door.
Harwinton Democratic Town Committee member Peter Brazaitis noted that the Torrington Post Office's threatened move is short-sighted. "The town of Harwinton is not going through population constriction. It's going through population expansion." Clearly, Brazaitis said, the post office anticipated this by renting the additional, unused space.
The meeting adjourned with the Board of Selectmen accepting a motion to express its concern to the Postal Service, asking them to "retain postal carriers in Harwinton and the present level of services at the Harwinton Post Office." They further agreed to support a call for a full post office in Harwinton, independent of Torrington. Selectman Scarpelli, after being urged by Selectman Knudsen to "keep an open mind," dissented.
This informational press release was provided by The Residents for the Future of Harwinton, an ad hoc group spearheaded by Frank Chiaramonte, which expresses its opinions on important matters relating to the town. Members of the committee present at the January 14 selectmen’s meeting were Frank Chiaramonte, Alex and Bree Gurin, Jeffrey Sedlak and Myrna Watanabe. This press release has been provided as a public service, as no members of the media were present at that discussion. Use of quotes from any individual or mention of any individual’s name does not imply that the individual is a member of The Residents for the Future of Harwinton or agrees with the group’s stances.
| 
