Going Postal

[OpihiChuck]

I've been informed by the Pahao PO that the mail carrier will not deliver to our new home in Opihikao because the road is a one laner. They also told me that there's a 6 month waiting list for a PO Box in the Pahoa office (and I can't even apply for that yet as they need proof of property ownership and escrow hasn't closed yet.) General Delivery sounds OK for a while but now my mainland PO tells me they'll only forward mail to General Delivery for 30 days.
The only way I can think of to maintain continuous mail delivery is to get a PO box in Hilo, where boxes are always available, until one frees up in Pahoa. Anyone else run into a similar problem?
Mahalo Plenty,
Chuck

[JerryCarr]

Aloha, Chuck. This is a widespread and vexing problem. The USPS has an amazing array of reasons not to deliver mail in Puna, but the most common are private roads or one-lane roads. Oddly, despite claiming they don't have to deliver on private roads, they have a number of clusters of mailboxes in HPP and other subdivisions . . . on, you guessed it, private roads. Unfortunately, the waiting list for those seems to be even longer than for an office box. Apparently the guys in the local post offices have not been willing or able to convince their bosses that the population growth in this area merits more facilities. How does one go about grass-roots lobbying with the Post Office? Any ideas?

[Rob Tucker]

There was a meeting in Pahoa Village a few months back where the mainland USPS officials came to get community input on improving service and maybe new facilities.

Guess what happened? No one showed upto the meeting. The mainland USPS folks flew back to San Francisco.

What does it take to get people involved in local issues?

Chairman, Punaweb Committee, MSPA

[Carey]

Chuck, we moved here (Keaau) in June & had a rental in HPP (hence we were in the same place you are now). Our mainland Post office had no forwarding restriction on General Delivery, and our mail was forwarded (General Delivery, Hilo) for the 5 months it took to buy our house. The 30 day limit, we were told, was on how long Hilo would hold the "General Delivery" mail for pick up. I don't know if things have changed in the last 3 months, or if this is something to confirm with the Postmaster at your current post office.

[John S. Rabi]

You also have an option of "buying" a mailing address from one of the area store owners and have your mail forwarded there. I have a friend who had her mail forwarded that way.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,RB
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
75-5870 Walua Road, Suite 101
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
(808)327-3185

[mella l]

We know several people who run around the country in motor coaches for many months on end. They have an itinerary and travel in caravans, with a group. Their post offices forward to General Delivery to each location a week before they arrive at their next destination. Hope this helps, it is possible to have general delivery indefinitely. Aloha, Mella

mella l

[JerryCarr]

Rob, as usual, is right on top of the community input angle. I don't remember that meeting with postal officials in Pahoa being advertised, but I could have missed it, especially since I wasn't following this forum back then. The unfortunately small response may have been due to poor promotion, or the Puna residents' tendency to stay away from such things which I understand is fairly common.

In any case, it seems odd that the USPS guys could come to Pahoa, see that there was a six-month wait for a box, bushel baskets of general delivery main, and years long waiting lists for boxes in subdivision outposts and leave thinking they don't need to do anything.

The same situation of inadequate facilities prevails in Keaau, which is my official post office, so I have a box at Hilo Airport. Fortunately, we have a household member who works in Hilo, so we are less inconvenienced than most folks.

For years I lived in a suburban area of Metro Atlanta where small, formerly rural towns were being rapidly overdeveloped. The USPS was constantly expanding, replacing, and building new post offices without any community input whatsoever. In the most notorious case they actually closed my post office and opened a new, much larger facility a mile and a half away without any notice to the patrons! They finally sent everyone notices in their mail three months later after the local paper did a piece on all the confusion. Maybe we will wake up some morning with a new post office somewhere in Puna. LOL!

Aloha, Jerry

[mella l]

Ah, Jerry give the guy a break from the USPS, a private company? Too logical to look at the baskets full of general delivery mail and the yard long list of those waiting for a box!! He needed a vacation in Hawaii perhaps!!! LOL

mella l

Edited by - mella l on 04/05/2006 17:48:20

[Rob Tucker]

As for the USPS thing... My guess is that from an office in San Francisco Pahoa simply seems a long way away. Believe me our local USPS workers are desperate for a new facility. The one we have is seriously "over-utilized" as the phrase goes. Just look at the packages stacked to the ceiling and the jammed tiny parking lot.

It seems silly that there is no mail delivery in Pahoa town! If you live or have a business in town you must have a P.O. Box.

Please consider joining up with Mainstreet to promote these local issues. It is $10 a year to join. More people have more ideas and muscle on how to get things done.

It is so difficult getting people organized on a subject to a level that can make some impact. Mainstreet Pahoa Association tries to do this and I would truly like to have as many of you join as possible. We need to increase our membership. It matters when we talk to the county council or departments. Government counts numbers.

Aloha,





Chairman, Punaweb Committee, MSPA

[mella l]

OK Rob I'll bite, where do we send our check?

Aloha, Mella L

mella l