Follow Up and Follow Thru

When we opened our business in August 2011, we brought to the attention of the Town that we did not have a mail receptacle to receive mail. I asked other businesses how they managed to get payments, important documents and shipments, and the reply was that they used their P.O. Box, which was free. Although I had rented a P.O. Box prior to our business occupying our retail space, there were some items that could not be delivered to a P.O. Box. What occurred the following four months was a finger-pointing between the Town of Purcellville and the U.S. Postal Service. Seems this question had been posed to the Town several years ago and again in the previous year by a business on 21st Street. But all seemed to fall through the cracks.

Even though a local printed media outlet cited that the merchants didn't feel like going to the Post Office, that as just their opinion, and not of those that had missed critical business payments. I decided to get a mediator involved since obstruction of mail delivery is a violation of 18 USC 1701. After receiving a letter from Congressman Frank Wolf, the Town found time in their busy award submission schedule, to coordinate a meeting with the U.S. Postal Service to determine locations of mailboxes since the Town needed to provided the land for the boxes. Finally, at the end of March the boxes were installed.  When I spoke with the Postmaster last week he said he was awaiting the route assignments and the Downtown merchants and residents will be receiving mail for the first time in the history of the town. 

If I'm doing the job of the town, I think this qualifies me for Town Council.