Mail Service to Island Trash Can Ends

By TChris, Section Off Topic
Posted on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 02:28:51 PM EST
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From the "If it ain't broke ..." department:

The U.S. Postal Service has ended a decades-old tradition in which mail was delivered to [Sutton Island, Maine] by a private ferry service and left in a specially marked trash can on the dock for recipients to pick up. Postal Service higher-ups got wind of the practice used to serve those living in the island's 25 or so seasonal homes and decided it had to be halted for security reasons. ...
Shea Howell, who lives in Detroit, Mich., during the winter, said residents will now have to make the 2-mile ocean journey to the post office in Northeast Harbor. "That can mean a three-hour trip out of your day just to get the mail," she said.... Howell said having mail service is important, especially for older residents who stay on the island for several months at a time and rely on deliveries to pay bills, stay in touch with loved ones and even receive essential medications.

Security issues apparently don't trouble UPS or FedEx, which will continue to deposit deliveries in the trash can.

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Mail Service to Island Trash Can Ends | 19 comments (19 topical)

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How much more lame can some (5.00 / 0) (#1)
by zfran on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 02:34:49 PM EST

issues get. If the post office feels it can no longer "make that trip" and "service those residents" then why not either hire someone to do it (perhaps the residents can all chip in)or hire a security guard to look after things if it's a security risk. The port of Houston has either lax or no security, but Sutton Island, Maine poses a severe security risk.

The term (5.00 / 0) (#4)
by txpolitico67 on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 03:13:01 PM EST

junk mail comes to mind. FedEx and UPS are premium services. Hope that doesn't cause any financial burdens to the seniors there on fixed incomes.

Oh, my God (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by gyrfalcon on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 03:21:20 PM EST

I've stayed there! My family spent two weeks on Sutton's Island when I was a kid. It's a wonderful place, but there's literally nothing there but a small number of old summer houses. No stores, no eating places, literally nothing. THere are no cars, either.

And when we were there, a small open boat, I think max capacity was 13, made the long, rough round trip to the mainland only twice a week (if the weather was OK) for people to go get groceries, etc., and I doubt that's changed. There may have been one or two families who had their own boats capable of making the trip, but most didn't and used the twice-weekly service. This is not an affluent place, or wasn't.

It's completely insane to worry about mail security in a place like that. There are no gangs of bad teenagers hanging around and no homeless folks looking for cash or identity thieves digging for credit cards.

Good. God.

More bureaucratic b.s.....Security? (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by PssttCmere08 on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 03:21:46 PM EST

People get mail stolen out of the mailboxes in front of their houses everyday....lame

Isn't Sutton Island in the United States? (5.00 / 3) (#7)
by Peter G on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 03:37:39 PM EST

I always thought U.S. mail service was required by law to be universal, to reach all Americans wherever they live ... as it says in 39 U.S.C. s 101, "to bind the Nation together," to provide "prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas," and to "render postal services to all communities." Sounds to me like maybe the Postal Service is failing to provide the "service" to which these folks are entitled.

: Must Be (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by squeaky on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 04:59:19 PM EST

That there is a "trash bin mail" clause In the Patriot Act that superceedes 39 U.S.C. s 101. Security is important, sacrifices have to be made for the heimland.
Besides the trash cans are a "meeting spot", sounds really suspicious to me.

I wish the USPS managers would visit my apartment (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by jerry on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 04:54:33 PM EST

There mail is delivered to an enormous number of individual boxlets, but the door that secures access to all the boxlets at once, has been off its hinges for years so the lock doesn't work at all.

The whole thing works about as well as mail service did in college, where everyone in the dorm got their mail tossed into a big, specially marked box, just like the islanders.

By "security" I'm sure... (none / 0) (#2)
by EL seattle on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 02:40:42 PM EST

...they're talking about good old-fashioned mail security (privacy, secure from identity thieves, etc.).

Still, it would be nice to know how much of the monthly mail volume to the trash can was, in fact, junk mail.

The post office used to give you (5.00 / 0) (#3)
by zfran on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 02:57:21 PM EST

"service" the airline industry used to give you "service" the "customer is always right" is a thing of the past. Being that this delivery is on water, any type of security issue is measurable. So, instead of looking for alternatives to giving "service" they are just going to discontinue it, let the residents travel some distance to get it, and no big deal. Wouldn't this notice have mentioned the content of the mail if it was junk mail? And besides, who's to say one's man's junkmail is another man's treasure. This is so silly!!


Totally ridiculous (5.00 / 3) (#8)
by Valhalla on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 04:07:58 PM EST

Just install a set of lockboxes and give residents keys.

When I lived in Madison, it was in a medium-ish apartment complex of several buildings. The mail was delivered to a big standalone block of locked boxes. Each resident had a key to just theirs. Simple and secure.

(omg, I just realized what that little bronze key still on my keyring goes to...).


Then the mailman would have (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by samanthasmom on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 05:02:31 PM EST

to tie the boat to the dock and get out and distribute the mail into the boxes instead of coming in close to the dock and just tossing the mailbag into the trashcan. It would require extra work, though. Another solution would be to pay a resident to be the island postmaster. He or she could meet the boat, pick up the mail, and distribute it. Easier and cheaper to make the people on the island make the three hour trip. I hope the residents raise a hissy-fit.


I think the real problem (none / 0) (#15)
by Fabian on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 06:50:22 PM EST

is a daily four hour round trip to drop off mail for some vacationers.


Seasonal or not, they should be able to get their (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by Valhalla on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 07:15:53 PM EST

mail. From the article, it sounds like these are people who live there for several months at a time, including some older residents who can't just zip across the water every day, not luxury vacationeers down the spa for a few days.

Besides, government stupidity shouldn't be more ok just because you're on vacation, anyway.


: I wish I could (none / 0) (#20)
by Fabian on Sun Aug 03, 2008 at 04:15:38 AM EST

take vacations. I do. I envy anyone who can take vacations, especially months long vacations. So just call me envious of people who are probably better off than 90% of their fellow citizens. Must be awfully da**ed nice to have that level of privilege and resources.

Sorry, I just can't bring myself to sympathize (none / 0) (#13)
by Joan in VA on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 06:06:43 PM EST

with vacation home owners. I will concede that the need to change the arrangement is nonexistent.

Hey, nuts to you! (5.00 / 1) (#18)
by gyrfalcon on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 08:13:39 PM EST

None of these are super-wealthy people. And I don't even care. We're supposed to get mail delivery no matter where we are. Not being able to get their mail delivered will make the difference for a lot of these middle-income people between being able to have their little summer place and not being able to.

You want the U.S. government deciding who gets to have mail and who gets to have a very modest summer place? I sure don't.

I could afford to have a summer cottage anywhere, but if we're going to start cutting off mail service to inconvenient people, let's start with Donald Trump, not these folks.


: Sorry (none / 0) (#19)
by gyrfalcon on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 08:15:18 PM EST

I couldn't afford to have a summer place anywhere. I'm barely making it as it is.

Must be. (none / 0) (#14)
by Fabian on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 06:48:01 PM EST

I'd be more sympathetic if people lived there year round. Anyone who lives two hours by sea from the mainland all year round would have my respect. I'm trying to think of any mainland place that is that remote, and the closest I come is Alaska.

Perhaps . . (none / 0) (#17)
by LarryInNYC on Sat Aug 02, 2008 at 07:30:51 PM EST

the fact that UPS and FedEx manage to get $15 to deliver the same piece of mail the USPS is expected to deliver for 41 cents has something to do with the decision?