Lamont Post Office Temporarily Closed
Michelle Pinon
News Advertiser
Kirk Perrin was just as surprised as anybody else to hear the Lamont Post Office was temporarily closed on Nov. 29.
That was worrisome news as he was waiting for parcels of baby supplies to arrive, and didn’t know if they would arrive or not given the temporary closure.
Perrin said his wife went through the process of getting a claim ticket for the order, and received one after 10 o’clock at night on Nov. 29. A subsequent email from Canada Post stated that it was cancelled. “No other information. Just a generic email that your case has been resolved.”
So, when he got a text from a fellow town councillor the morning of Nov. 30 saying that the post office was open, he went to the post office about an hour later to pick up his mail and parcels. “There were two people who I had not seen there before,” stated Kirk, speaking in his capacity as a customer. “I asked if they were there for the day, and they said yep.”
Wearing his other hat as Mayor, Perrin said there was some feedback on Facebook and some chatter about the temporary closure. “It ranges from frustration to confusion. Of course, some harder feelings from people who rely on the service.
People rely on the service, businesses and residents. You rely on the timely service to receive important goods. My situation was frustrating, but for someone receiving medication and stuff like that, other important shipments, that frustration can be a lot more too, right.
We wish them a speedy resolution in their staffing issues…It’s good that they were able to resolve this immediate issue within 24 hours.” He’s just hoping there will be a permanent solution, and there won’t be any more disruptions to postal service in Lamont.
“It’s definitely a terrible time of year for this to happen. We definitely hope for some stability in the service. It’s very important for businesses and residents to know that. It’s a very worrying one. We received no notice of the closure. We received no notice of the reopening. We don’t know what we can expect tomorrow, right.
From the town’s perspective, it’s beyond our control. We’re as much a victim of this. Our Deputy CAO was wondering if we should be making alternatives for our cheques. I signed them yesterday for the town and we didn’t even know if we could send them out, and those need to be paid timely, right. So, we are as much a victim as everyone else, right.”
Perrin added that, “It’s one of those services that you take for granted until it’s not there.” He is certainly hoping things will get back to normal in what is the busiest time of year for parcels and letters.
“I can confirm that the post office opened today with regular hours, after being temporarily closed on Monday due to staffing issues,” stated Phil Legault, a representative with Canada Post Media Relations.
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