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Postal Service offers compromise
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer DADE CITY -- Days after a U.S. Postal Service decision to eliminate bulk mailing from the Dade City office, postal officials say they'll offer a compromise to local business and government leaders. Anthony Brescia, the postal service's Tampa area marketing director, said the agency still will eliminate bulk mailing as a cost-saving measure from the Dade City office, moving all accounts to the larger Zephyrhills facility. But, he said, mailers will be allowed to drop off bulk mailings at the Dade City post office each day. Provided the mail is there by 3 p.m., the post office will drive it the 8 miles to the Zephyrhills post office for same-day processing at that location. "There is an opportunity for us to meet the parties half way," Brescia said Friday. "There are going to be some people who say this is unacceptable, but we aren't doing this to inconvenience them. We're doing this to save money. The post office has zero profit. Our expenses are passed on to you, our customers." Processing bulk, discounted mail at a central location is more efficient and saves the post office money, Brescia said. The compromise pleased Withlacoochee Electric Cooperative managing partner Billy Brown. The electric company posts 10,000 bills a day, and Brown said the daily pickup offer at Dade City's post office was a fair compromise. "I appreciate the post office working something out," Brown said. But the solution didn't quiet all questions or solve all problems. Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Olson said he still has questions over what is defined as bulk mailing. The more than a million pieces of mail from his office are still considered first class mail, although he achieves discounts by using a computerized presorting technique. If it's first class mail, he said Friday, it should be mailed from any post office. Besides, he asked, why should mail from the county seat, Dade City, bear a Zephyrhills postmark? "This is not acceptable," he said. "I'm not going to take this sitting down."
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