GOLD CANYON, AZ — A dozen people living in a 55 and up community outside Apache Junction say they’re fed up with waiting almost a year for mail deliveries in their neighborhood to restart.
Homeowners said it all started when a cluster box unit was damaged in January and mail stopped being delivered.
Because of this, the residents have been driving to the Apache Junction Post Office multiple times a week to receive mail.
“There’s no sense of efficiency or care as far as I can tell,” neighbor Chuck Cuffaro said. “The post office has just been incalcitrant about it.”
What they thought would be a temporary workaround has now turned into a 10-month ordeal.
“Some people are older and some people have trouble driving and access and they now have to get out and walk in — where before, all they had to do was drive up beside the cluster box in their golf cart and reach in and get their mail,” Mountainbrook Village HOA President Ed Pullen said.
The commute proved difficult for homeowner Patricia McKay when she couldn’t leave her home.
“I had surgery and could not get to the mailbox, could not get to the post office,” McKay said. “It’s just been a horrible, horrible mess.”
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Pullen said after the long delay was brought to his attention last month, it took weeks to get a response from USPS after he reached out to Pinal County, Congressman Eli Crane and Senator Mark Kelly’s offices.
“They wouldn’t even answer the phone. I’ve got a log of two weeks of constantly making phone calls,” Pullen said. “Pinal county who has been heroes in this has really helped us a lot, [but we’ve] got little to no cooperation from the post office.”
While the old cluster box had been getting mail for roughly two decades, the US Postal Service said the issue in replacing it was getting an approved site that now meets ADA requirements.
Two weeks ago, Pinal County and USPS met with Pullen and maintenance staff to discuss the project and come up with a plan for replacement.
The agency says they now have that approved and they’re designing the location, applying for more permits and awarding contracts.
“We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers and will complete the construction and installation as soon as possible,” The Postal Service said in a statement.
However, the Postal Service does not have a timeline for when a new one will be installed.
“It’s terrible and I’m sure as we approach the Christmas season at the post office, if you’ve ever seen lines at the post office around then, just to get mail it’s not a matter of walking in and picking up mail, you get in line,” Cuffaro said. “That line is going to get awfully bad in December.”
Pinal County released a statement that reads in part, “Our office and Development Services staff continue to work diligently on this issue to get it resolved as quickly as possible for the residents of the community.”
