By phone or on camera, LaGrange Park residents oppose potential post office closing

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Resident Bill Davis signs in during the end of a forum Jan. 30 at the LaGrange Park Village Hall to gather residents' input on a possible closing of the local post office branch. | Jane Michaels~Sun-Times Media

Updated: April 2, 2012 1:55AM

About two dozen LaGrange Park residents voiced opposition to the proposed closing of the U.S. Postal Service branch office in town during a forum Monday at the Village Hall.

U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski, D-3rd, from Western Springs stopped by to listen to constituents and pledged his assistance in efforts to keep the local post office open on 31st Street at Barnsdale Road.

Village President Jim Discipio said he was encouraged by the congressman’s offer of help, as well as by the village’s combination of efforts to keep the branch office open.

“If we can get their attention, that means an awful lot,” Discipio said of postal officials in Washington, D.C. who are expected to make a decision in March.

The LaGrange Park branch is one of 3,700 offices identified nationwide in a study to cut costs. The village was tagged because annual sales of $573,000 in 2010 and $528,000 through September for 2011 fall short of the $600,000 threshold used for the study.

As an alternative to closing the LaGrange Park branch, postal authorities could investigate renting a storefront and be open fewer hours to save money, but still offer service to residents, Discipio said.

In addition to residents’ comments gathered by the village and postal authorities through Dec. 31, the village arranged for an automated phone survey Jan. 18 through We Ask America, based in Springfield. The survey used information provided by registered voters, not contact information from the village’s data base.

Of the 900 households who answered the survey call Jan. 18, 484 residents completed it, said Village Manager Julia Cedillo. On the advice of Thom Serafin, a resident who served as the village’s consultant on the phone survey, the village extended the survey period by making a toll-free number available to answer the four multiple-choice questions through Jan. 22, Cedillo said.

Of the 600 total respondents, more than two-thirds said they use the facility at least once a month, and nearly one-third of those answering said they use it weekly.

More than two-thirds of the participants said they use the LaGrange Park office because it’s convenient, and the second-most important reason mentioned was ease of access.

If the local branch closes, almost 60 percent of the respondents said their top concern was the distance to other area post offices, followed by lack of parking at the other locations.

The survey also indicated use of the post office is evenly distributed among patrons 36 to 65 years and older. Of the village’s 13,579 residents according to the 2010 Census, 21.1 percent, or about 2,900 residents, are age 65 or older.

In previous feedback to the village and at a public hearing on the potential closing in November, residents cited a lack of parking and lots of steps at the entrance to the La Grange post office 1.3 miles away. The Brookfield branch, 1.4 miles away, also has a lot of steps and not enough nearby parking, residents noted.

Besides the survey results, the village plans to submit a 15-minute video to Washington officials including footage comparing the entrance of the LaGrange Park office with those in La Grange, Brookfield and Westchester.

The video also will contain portions of comments recorded from about a dozen residents at the forum.

Although she didn’t speak on camera, Marilyn Galik expressed views she shared with her neighbors.

“We’re all very sad about it. I’ve lived here for 52 years, and most of my neighbors have been here 30 to 40 years,” said the Stone Avenue resident.

“A lot of us walk to the post office two or three times a week for the exercise,” Galik said. “I mail cards, send packages and get stamps. It’s a shame our little village is losing such a nice thing.”

Resident Bill Davis agreed.

“I mail out 1,500 parcels a year. I’m there about three times a week and I talk to other customers,” David said. “We get better service in LaGrange Park than anywhere else around.”