Your opinion..Do we need our own Villages Post Office

[Hancle704]

Today's Daily Sun reports that the Sumter County Commissioners are speaking out and communicating this idea to our Senators and Congressmen that TV needs it's very own Post Office and one would assume, our own ZIP Code. What do you folks think?

I'm in favor, but more than a post office, I'd like to see mail delivery to a box at the end of my driveway. Would take a few mail trucks to make deliveries, but think about the reduction in vehicular traffic, overall energy conservation and reduction in emissions if Villagers would not drive as many cars, golf carts etc. 6 days a week to pick up the mail.

We pay the same postage rates as do the folks along CR 466 who have their mail delivered to their mailboxes at end of their driveways why should we not have the same service from USPS? :dontknow:

[blueeagle65]

The Lady Lake Post Office doesn't appear to be able to serve TV as it should. I have had a letter postmarked from Jacksonville, FL not appear in my box here till 9 days later! I also receive expired notices from department stores and others on a regular basis. If I have something of importance I take it to the P.O. at Oxford for expedited (normal) handling. I am in favor of anything that'll improve our postal service.

[golfnut]

I think the post office is going away, I get most statements and pay bills electronically, don't have a lot of use for post office and see it dimishing in the future.

[cleanwater]

Nice to have stuff. I'd like to see home deliveries reduced to 3x per week instead of 6x per week and taxes reduced proportionately. Asking for more services means more costs somewhere. No thanks. Post office service is second rate here but it's going the way of horses anyway. I'd like to see more internet competition and lower prices.

[bamafan]

I agree the Post Office is dying. I am still using 37 cent stamps adding 2 cent stamps to add up to 41 cents. Most everything is going to e-mail. I refuse to get my statements and bills electronically. What if my computer is down for a while. At the very least when I get a paper bill I can go back in time and write a real check and still mail it. Provided there is still a PO

[Talk Host]

Because of some of our business enterprises, I am frequently send overnight express packages. The postal carriers will not bring them to my house. They put a notice in my box and I have to drive to Lady Lake the next day to get the packages. At least if there was an office in the Villaes, I could go there.

[golfnut]

talkhost, we are you, thought you were traveling???

[zcaveman]

I am a Blockbuster DVD rental person. If I put a DVD in the mail on Monday morning, I get a notice on Tuesday morning that they received the DVD in Daytona. On Wednesday I have my next DVD. I cannot beat that turnaround with a stick. I use more stamps at Christmas than I use the entire year. I pay all my bills via the internet or via electronic funds transfer. I hand my check to the lawn mower guy. If I have a special need I go up to the PO in Summerfield off of 301.

I have an electric cart to go to the Mail stop. I could walk since it is close but the back says no.

They made it so easy to get your mail I don't see the problem.

[villager99]

i admit i'm confused. until recently anything needing recipient signature was available for pickup at the villages post office on the historic side. which was golf cart accessible. i haven't checked to see if the facility is completely closed but ...
it's only siince spring of this year that items are being held at the lady lake post office outside tv property.
i've been fortunate to be home for the few such items the carrier has brought to my house this year but if i wasn't i assume i could call lady lake and request redelivery.

[Villages Kahuna]

It makes no sense that Lady Lake has two USPS offices with a population of less than 12,000 people while TV has none with more than six times as many residents and growing.

I'd sure like to see one--one of their "larger" models (with about 5-6 counter positions and maybe 2 self-serve mailing stations). A location on 466 near Southern Trace would be centrally located for TV. Or maybe on some of the vacant land near the Sumter County Annex at 466 and Morse. The only problem with that location might be too much additional traffic.

[Avista]

I think our mail service is quite good. For one thing our mail is much safer in the Mail Bank by the pool, than if delivered to our home. Before we moved here our mail was delivered right to our home. When we were gone for a day or 2, I worried about it being out there. For longer periods, we stopped our mail, but that got to be a pain too.

We live near 466A and have 2 postoffices not too far from our house. One is in Oxford and to get to the other,I go south and turn left on 466A and drive right by it. That being said, we have been here since Feb and have never gone into the post office. I get my stamps at the mail bank. I have a little postal scale at home for my small packages and haven't mailed anything large lately.

I do get a little irritated when I am buying something to be mailed and the person asks my address. I say "The Villages" and they answer, "Do you mean Lady Lake"? I always say ,"NO, I MEAN THE VILLAGES!" That is just an irritant.

Our mail delivery has been good. As mentioned above, I have a movie delivery service (Netflix). They too get the movie I send back in a day or 2--depending what time of day I mail it. I have a new movie very quickly.

[Talk Host]

talkhost, we are you, thought you were traveling???


I am. Currently sitting in the Hotel Don Fernado De Taos in Taos, NM. Leaving in a few minutes for Sedona, Arizona. I too am a TOTV junkie and have to keep up with what's going on 'round here. Using my laptop and Sloooooowwwwww dial up connection. Man AOL bites.
;D
JLK

[LG]

It makes no sense that Lady Lake has two USPS offices with a population of less than 12,000 people while TV has none with more than six times as many residents and growing.

I'd sure like to see one--one of their "larger" models (with about 5-6 counter positions and maybe 2 self-serve mailing stations). A location on 466 near Southern Trace would be centrally located for TV. Or maybe on some of the vacant land near the Sumter County Annex at 466 and Morse. The only problem with that location might be too much additional traffic.


Actually there is one about a block north of 466 on CR301 on the left.. New and Very Nice.. Has all the things you just wished for

[mrskkb]

The one on 301 is old.

Has been there for a long time.

I had gone to the beautiful new one in Lady Lake off of CR25 once

Excellent service.

Lady who took care of my transaction mentioned that the USPS

is thinking about building a new on 466.

That was about 5 months ago.

[Cliff]

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with those people who say that mail service in the Villages is very good. My opinion is that it is very bad. So far (6 years) I have had three envelopes with very large payments (my checks) to local businesses that have been lost in the mail and required a stop payment on the checks. I also frequently get mail which was deposited in the postal service up to two weeks before I received them. No excuse for that. I agree with another poster who said that they get flyers for sales which had expired up to a week before they received the flyer. If you wait on payments, immediately investigate direct deposit. It is the only way to be assured that you get your money on time.

[littlekat5]

Lord almighty, do we ever need a post office of our own!!!! Our zipcode is Lady Lake and I am getting sooooo tired of explaining I DO NOT live in Lake County, but in Sumter County. You would think with over 60,000 people here the Post Office could give us our own zip code and post office. It just might be a lot more efficient than what is there now. :clap2:

[villager99]

i've always been under the impression that at least the sumter county sections of the villages were given their own zip code a few years ago. 32162.

[Duffer]

A Post office in TV is a "nice to have" but nothing more. The problems that some people address and others don't is indicative of the process not necessarily because the mail comes through Lady Lake. I'd venture that most of us have at one time or another had a packaged delivered late regardless of where we lived prior to coming here. As far as curb side delivery, that can open a big can of worms. Such as would everybody be able to buy the type of box they chose or would the"developer" or the CDDs make a determination on what would be acceptable. Of course that would open the arguement of who makes any profit on the boxes. And the list could go on. I really like the current system even with some of the issues. One thing I really like is when I am gone for a week or so my mail will still be there locked away in a little box and not filling up a mail box on the street. ;D

[zcaveman]

When I go away, I ask my neighbor to collect my mail and newspapers for me. They put it in a box and give it to me when I get home. My neighbor was on an around the world cruise. I took care of his mail and did weekly checks of his house.

If you tell the person at the mail box, they will hold your mail and put it in one of the large boxes and put a key in your box on the day you told her you will return. You might have to fill out a form.

If you need a post office, you have Oxford, Summerfield, Lady Lake, Weirsdale, and La Grande. I currently plan my post office run when I am headed in that direction.

When I lived in Jersey, the local Post office was as far as Oxford is now or La Grande is now.

[Frangyomory]

I have never understood the "deal" cut by the developer and the postal service regarding our mail. We are entitled to delivery to our home and I resent having to drive down two streets to pick up my mail. I resent that I am told to pick my mail up more often as I am overloading the box. We are ENTITLED to appropriate mail service and just because the villages is densely populated doesn't mean the post office shouldn't deliver our mail. I lived in a large community in Central Virginia with thousands of residences and the mail was delivered by carrier to our homes.

Where have you heard of paying in your closing costs for a mail box key??? Well, just in case you didn't know it, you did it here.

Mail is a BIG issue to me. We have some folks who have difficulty getting to the mail boxes and they are entitled to have their mail delivered to their home just like every citizen. Even when I lived on a rural route, regardless of weather, etc. my mail was delivered to my home.

The service here stinks and I drive to the post office on 301 to send things off in the mail.

[Avista]

I like the mail banks at the pools. I feel my mail is much safer there and is safe when I travel for a few days.
I vote for the present system.

[Frangyomory]

Sadly, if you are not the developer, you don't get to vote in the Villages. :edit:

[Frank2]

I would like to have a postal facility designed with adequate entrance, egress, and parking space within the Villages...parking at current postal locations on the 466/25 roads are crowded, convoluted, and present a wonderful opportunity for an automobile accident.

[The Great Fumar]

I like the postal situation the way it is ....My mail is locked away until I want it and I don't have to look at miles and miles of mail boxes of all different shapes and sizes messing up our beautiful Villages.....Get over it Villagers, The Postal Dept. is a dying business and we may as well find new ways of replacing it.

[dandt]

I am very happy with the postal delivery system we have. Ugly mailboxes at the end of driveways is something I would rather not see. Going to pick up mail is a bit of a social thing in our neighborhood.
A post office for the occasional times I need it, I suppose would be nice, but we don't mind driving to the very nice facility in Summerfield (Hwy 301) where the service is friendly and good.

[zcaveman]

Take a ride through Spruce Creek and look at the monotonous ugly mail boxes in front of all of the homes. This is great. The only thing that upsets me is that I do EFT or online payment of everything so all I get at the mail stop are catalogs and invites to financial seminars.

[opbob77]

Sounds like Frangyomory has that 'entitlement' mentality that raises my taxes. No one has mentioned the post office in Wildwood that's in the plaza (Sumter County offices, too). If you live south of Lake Sumter it is not that far a drive. I live in Largo and it's about a ten minute trip.