Post Office petition
 

I read in the paper today that a petition is being circulated for a Village Post Office. I am delighted. :hot: :hot:
Please sign it so we can have a chance of getting an "onsight" P.O. that will be so much more convienent. The target is 30,000 signatures.

Re: Post Office petition
 

Would that mean our zip code would change?

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Okay if you get one, where should it be located? :dontknow:

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That's what I was wondering. With such a huge area I wonder will they would locate a Village Post office. I currently drive to the Post Office on 466A in Fruitland Park. If The Villages located a new post office near 441 I would still continue to use the one in Fruitland Park. This does not mean I am against the idea; I just know I would go to the closest one regardless if it was inside or outside The Villages.

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I would say in Sumter Landing somewhere. That's close to the center of TV and far enough from Lady Lake, Oxford, Wildwood, and Fruitland Park post offices that already exist. Buffalo Ridge is too close to Oxford. Colony Plaza is too close to Fruitland Park. The new area south of 466A is too close to Wildwood. Mulberry Grove area is fairly close to Summerfield post office on 301 and it's too far from everything else in TV. (And since that area is in District 4, the POA would probably sue to take over mail delivery.) Just kidding!

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Not all of TV is 32162. A lot of it is 32159. I think the newer sections are 62.

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A Post Office in the VIllages is badly needed but a community the size of The Villages should easily have 2 or more post offices.

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Barb, from what I understand everyone on my side of 466 (not sure if that's north or south -- between 441 and 466) is 32159. I can use either Lady Lake or The Villages as my town, both seem to be accurate.

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Wonderful idea, S. L. town sq. having a P.O. Where do we vote?
Some towns have a P.O. located in a small back room at a hardware, CVS or Hallmark
type store, rather than foot the huge bill for a regular building purchase or rental.
The store benefits from people coming to mail items and posibly purchasing goods while
posting.

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Mulberry is also close to the Weisdale post office - 5 miles east of Buena Vista. Apparently the gist of the petition is to get something that is "golf cart accessible". That seems to be the theme of those south of 466. I am happy with what post office access I have since I very seldom have to go to an actual post office. I get my stamps from the ATM machine. Who is going to pay for the post office building and who is going to benefit from the sale of the property to build the post office?

I opt for it to be in Sumter county. They got the money to build it - ie new bond.

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So, Barb, does that mean those of us with 32159 zip codes don't live in The Villages or just don't count?

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I believe the PO machines only read the zip number to deliver your mail. It doesn't care what you write as far as the towns/villages name. So you can use The Villages, Fl 32159 or Lady Lake, Fl 32159 and it will still get to your home. I know because our mail comes to us with those two different addresses all of the time. As for the other zip code we were told when were purchased our home that it was The Villages zip code number but, The Villages didn't have enough residence to warrent a PO buidling. They needed to have something like 65,000 people, which they don't have as full time residence. Four to five months a year is like a ghost town here. PO employees love it. Most of the folks who are full time live in the 32159 zip code area and they won't be changing their zip code even when the building is done. It is just not cost effective for the PO to have so many PO's in this one area. Where it does go it will have to be in a commercial spot so I would say Sumter Landing would be the best bet. The only thing you people can do is get your family and friends to buy up more homes south of 466 to increase the number of people in that zip code area so you can get a Post Office built. LOL! I don't know if this information I got from the post master several years ago helps any but maybe it will.

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I live in a small town in upstate ny we are so small the mail is not delivered and we have to p/u our mail from our small po which employees three people yes they are local people -employed by the us gov i really cant understand why anyone would be against having a new po in the villages i dont care where it would be or how big it would put maybe at least three more people to work

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It looks like from the Villages Daily Sun February 7, 2008 article that people will be coming next week to 50 of the Villages post offices to get people to sign this petition. It does not give times though just days that people are going to show up.

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2:00 - 4:00 PM each day. One day at each mail station. I don't have the schedule at hand.

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It looks like they will be at Alhambra, Ashland, Bonnybrook, Calumet Grove, Caroline, Chatham Square, Hacienda Hills, Polo Ridge and Sabal Chase on Monday, February 11, 2008.

Tuesday the 12th of February--Belvedere, Bonita, El Santiago, Largo, Lynnhaven, Mallory Square, Piedmont, Summerhill, Tierra del Sol, and Woodbury

Wednesday the 13th of February-- Briar Meadow, Bridgeport Village, Chula Vista, De La Vista, Glenbrook, Hadley, Paradise, Santo Domingo, Spanish Springs, Springdale, Tall Trees, Winifred

Thursday the 14th of February-- Belle Aire, Chula Vista, Mulberry Grove, Poinciana, Sunset Pointe, Valla Verde, Virginia Trace

Friday the 15th of February-- Amelia, Duval, Liberty Park, Miona Shores, and Rio Grande

That's according to page A4 of the Villages Daily Sun for Thursday, February 7, 2008.

Have no idea why they list Chula Vista twice?

Re: Post Office petition
 

IS there a place were owners who are currently not residing in TV can also sign on to this petition.....once we finally move it will effect us all.

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So...exactly...what are the advantages of having our own post office?

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Is this another roundabout discussion in the offing? ;)

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Another place to mail packages, buy stamps, USPO memorabilia, etc. Hope it will not affect the goings on of the neighborhood posting centers.

I know you can buy stamps at Albertsons, Publix and maybe other places around the Villages (ATMs?) but the stamp selection seems extremely limited for those of us who like a little variety.

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Brightspot: I'm also wondering what the advantages are. I'm obviously missing something here, everyone seems to be in favour. :dontknow:

You can ship packages at Pack and Ship (which seem to be located in most plazas) or call Fed Ex. You can buy stamps at Publix or even order them from your local mail carrier at your postal station. With the increased use of e-mail, it seems a strange time to be adding a postal station.

I think post offices are going to disappear the same way telephone booths did!

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You do have to stand in line often at US Post Offices but they are quite a bit cheaper than Fed Ex, Pack and Ship, etc.

And, actually seeing the stamps in a non virtual reality form is an added attraction when choosing a book of stamps at the US post office rather than from the USPO web-site.

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How's the petition going for the TV own postal center?

There are supposedly going to be at hese Villages today from 2 to 4 --Belvedere, Bonita, El Santiago, Largo, Lynnhaven, Mallory Square, Piedmont, Summerhill, Tierra del Sol, and Woodbury.

I was watching the movie Juno at the Old Mill Playhouse along with about 20 people in the 300 seat auditorium yesterday at that time. So, I could not drive by the places where the petitoners were supposedly at yesterday-- Alhambra, Ashland, Bonnybrook, Calumet Grove, Caroline, Chatham Square, Hacienda Hills, Polo Ridge and Sabal Chase.

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So except for being able to buy special stamps and not stand in line (possibly because those in line are also villagers who will be standing in line at the new Villages PO), what are the advantages of having a brick and mortar PO in the Villages itself?

As I might have mentioned before, I MIGHT have to go to a real post office once a year - if that often. How many of you actually visit a real PO in a year? Is it worth the additional cost to pursue this?

Also, for those of us that live on the north side of TV, how many miles will we save? I would assume that the new PO will be in the Lake Sumter area which is at least 6 miles from my residence. I can go to Weisdale (7.2 miles) in a car and be back home in less than 30 minutes.

And again - who will pay for this and who will profit from the sale of the property?

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AND ALSO AT HADLEY VILLAGE TODAY.

Also they showed up today at Hadley Mailboxes where we signed the petition. Would never would have guessed they were coming until we heard super loud music coming into our backyard.

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Cheaper, cheaper, cheaper...pack and ship is sooo expensive!!

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Believe it or not they were even in Orange
blossom(the historic side)!

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Right now there is no Villages POST OFFICE...Its LADY LAKE...........When official documents are sent to me to THE VILLAGES the PO changes them to Lady Lake...
We are having an IDENTITY crisis......

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Did they get the targeted 30,000 signatures or is the petition still circulating for signatures? :dontknow:

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I believe it is still on-going. Pettitions were circulated to all recognized clubs in TV and it'll take time to get them back. Don't know about the rest of the place, but the turnout at the postal stations in Region 5 was pretty good.

Bonnybrook - 134
Ashland - 214
Belvedere - 288
Lynnhaven - 255
Bridgeport - 107
Winifred - 381
Sunset Pointe - 250
Poinciana - 274
Liberty Park - 340

I suppose we will be hearing more about overall response soon.

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I have heard that Winifred is the largest Village as far as number of homes goes? 2243 votes for Region 5. Like that number for some reason. :joke: :bigthumbsup:

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All things considered regarding a Village Post Office, and where to centrally locate it, I'd rather see 50 mail trucks or whatever would be needed, delivering mail to boxes at end of our driveways, just as they do for homes along CR 466, Lady Lake, Stonecrest and Spruce Creek.

Image how that would cut down on traffic, pollution, vehicle accidents and fuel consumption. 50 Mail trucks, vs, 20000 cars, bikes, scooters, golf carts going to and from neighborhood mail stops 6 times each week, 52 weeks a year. I'm sure Al Gore would approve.

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Hey, getting out and going to the postal station is the only way some of us old farts ever leave home. And it's the only time we talk to real people.

Otherwise, we stay in dark rooms pounding on computer keys.

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:agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree:
:hot: :hot: :hot: :hot: :hot: :hot: :hot: :hot: :hot: :hot: :hot: :hot:
:clap2: :clap2: 040 040 040 :beer3: :beer3: :beer3: :beer2: :beer2: :beer2:

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Okay, let's be a bit more serious about this proposal. Let's ignore the manpower costs that nobody's going to pay. We eliminate the postal stations and install a 8 unit mailbox on each block. Local delivery! Wonderful!

But the grandkids send you a package. You get a little yellow slip in the box and drive to Lady Lake :yikes: to pick it up --- only during open hours. Next day the books from Amazon come ~~ back to Lady Lake. :edit: Why not use the big mail boxes for packages . . . oh yeah, the postal station is gone. And no, they're not going to put big boxes in each of the mailbox units -- ain't gonna happen.

But you need to get some gas and maybe some groceries and possibly even a beer on the way to the Post Office in Lady Lake and you're broke. Run by the convenient ATM at the local postal ~ oops, the postal station's gone and so's the ATM. :cus: Well, they could put the ATM at the pool in the bldg there --- no, not so much. Postal stations are theoretically secure structures. Storage shacks aren't.

Maybe centralized delivery may not be the worst thing in the world.

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I don't want to sound like a grump BUT -

When you visited TV you knew that they had the mail pickup areas. You did not let that deter you from moving here. Why do you think that they would change the mail delivery system just because you decided to come here and not like it.

I am happy with it. Lots of people are happy with it. If you check, many of the other retirement villages everywhere have it and are happy with it.

If you have friends or neighbors that are not able to pick up their mail, volunteer to do it for them. I do. That is one more good deed to get you into the pearly gates or at least make you feel good about helping your fellow man.

Please quit complaining about something that is not going to change.

Sorry if I upset some of you but you are beating a dead horse. lovehorse

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IMHO, the ONLY reason to have a post office within TV is for golf cart accessibility, and even this is questionable in light of what zcaveman wrote about volunteering to go to the post office for a friend/neighbor who may not be able to get there. With a degree of planning, trips to the post office are infrequent, and TV is surrounded by post offices in smaller and larger nearby communities. It is about the same distance for us to get to a post office outside TV as it is at home in upstate NY--and the service and friendliness are delightfully the same!

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Driving 1/3 mile to the mail station is fine with me. You can drop your first class there and if you buy postage on line, Priority and Express Mail as well, except for heavy packages.

The Summerfield PO on 301 is just 10 minutes from the house and is a good excuse to "get off the reservation" for a few minutes. BTW, I find them the most user friendly PO of all three in the area. Always well staffed and any line moves very quickly.

Don't really see the need for another PO.