Residents ready for post office to re-open

YANTIC, Conn. (WTNH) -- Making a run to your neighborhood post office is something a lot of us take for granted, but not people in Norwich. It's been nine months since their local post office shut down.

The Yantic post office still sits idle, with no indication any repairs have been made to the Norwich building unexpectedly shut down for structural problems in February.

"I like it a lot. It was very friendly," said Donna Jean Eno, of Norwich. "I know it was small, but it was close and convenient."

Eno is among 230 Yantic customers forced to pick up their mail in nearby Bozrah. It's a couple of miles down the road, an inconvenience for some.

"It's very far away for me," said Vincenzo Race, Yantic customer. "It's very far away, especially it's very short times to come in."

Unlike Yantic which is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Bozrah opens later and closes earlier.

"Cause I work from 8 to 4. So they're not open before I come to work and they're not open when I leave," said Jill Redding, of Norwich.

"So you can only get it on the weekends," asked News 8's Tina Detelj.

"I can only get it on Saturdays and with the weather coming if it snows or we have bad weather then we can't make it," said Redding.

News 8 saw a few people in line at the counter Thursday, and folks from Yantic say that's an added inconvenience because they have to stand in that line. They don't have any boxes in Bozrah. So when the post office is closed for lunch between 12 and 1 they can't get their mail during that time either.

At a meeting Wednesday night the concerns were emotionally delivered to postal officials considering Yantic's future.

"How would you feel if they say hey we're never going to open it again," asked Detelj.

"You make do," said Eno.

A ruling on the post office or other options is expected in 60 days.