Creston Postmaster Sharon Parkison presented plans to improve the efficiency of mail delivery to city businesses by installing new “package friendly” cluster box units (CBUs) in areas of town with a high volume of commercial mail during a Creston City Council meeting Tuesday.
CBUs are free-standing units similar in size to United States Postal Service (USPS) “blue boxes,” which are the most common public receptacles for outgoing mail, but with individual locking compartments that can accommodate numerous businesses within a single structure.
“In light of today’s changing mail mix, there are new and convenient ways to receive mail and packages that enhance customer convenience,” Parkison said in a letter presented to council members.
CBUs prevent weather damage and theft of parcels delivered to doorsteps of businesses because they are too large for the existing mailboxes of the buildings.
“They’re very secure and can only be opened with an arrow key, which is one of ours,” Parkison said during the meeting. “They are much more secure than typical mailboxes, and they also hold packages.”
USPS regulations do not permit walk-in delivery of parcels to area businesses without an already established delivery agreement, which can cause significant delays in delivery of parcels too large to fit in their existing mailboxes, as well as any items requiring a signature.
“As long as I’m postmaster, there won’t be any more walk-in deliveries to businesses,” Parkison said. “It’s actually against our postal operations manual. It’s the most expensive delivery method we have versus the CBU. The cost difference is about $210 per year, which doesn’t seem like much, but 1.5 billion deliveries a day times that $210 a year adds up fast.”
The cluster boxes also save time for carriers on delivery routes by reducing multiple stops at different businesses to a single stop at a CBU. This translates into more timely delivery of mail and parcels to the small businesses of Creston.
Additionally, CBUs provide measures against mail tampering and theft by holding items in a locked compartment, rather than leaving them sitting in a traditional-style mailbox. Each unit can be customized to match the motif of the city and neighborhood in which they are placed.
“My thought was, the council would rather have the centralized boxes, particularly in the downtown area because of the beautification efforts,” Parkison said. “CBUs would improve the appearance of areas where everyone’s boxes look different, and there’s no continuity. Plus, the postal service will absorb the cost right now.”
The USPS has already seen success in many other communities across the state and country.
“The postmaster in Decorah has already done the entire downtown area, and he absorbed it in his business as a way of saying, ‘thank you for allowing us to do that and save the money that we do’,” Parkison said. “I’d like to do the same thing.”
Creston Public Works Director Kevin Kruse said the boxes shouldn’t cause any problems with either automobile or pedestrian traffic in Creston.
“They should be fine as long as they’re set so people can get out of their cars without banging into them,” Kruse said. “My thought was to set them no closer than what the black poles are on the street, and they’d probably be all right.”
No specific time frame has been established for the implementation of a new cluster box delivery system in Creston, but it will not be a short-lived project.
“This is something that could take literally years to take effect,” Parkison said.
In other Creston City Council news:
• The council voted to set a public hearing July 19 for the purpose of receiving public comment on the current status of funded activities for the City of Creston Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
• The council voted to approve a temporary alley closing request from the Library Renovation Committee from Mills Street north leading to the west side of the library for August 7, from 2-7:30 p.m. for their Kick-Off Event.
• The council voted to approve a temporary street closing request from the Creston Elks Lodge for Saturday, July 23 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. to host approximately 100-150 motorcyclists during a Poker Run.