Public meeting on changes to Gary post office is Thursday

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Updated: October 28, 2011 12:57PM

The public will have the chance to weigh in Thursday on a U.S. Postal Service proposal to consolidate some operations at its Gary Processing and Distribution Facility to South Bend.

A study conducted by the Postal Service supports the consolidation, which is expected to save around $1.3 million a year. However, a decision on whether to carry out the proposal hasn’t been made for the facility at 15th and Martin Luther King Drive.

Gary City Council passed a resolution opposing the move in May. Councilwoman Carolyn Rogers, D-4th District, plans to send a letter to be read into the record at Thursday’s meeting.

“I’m concerned about the residents working in the city of Gary who very well may lose their jobs,” Rogers said. “Residents may have to relocate and that could be a problem in itself as well as mail itself and how that is going to affect residents not only in the city of Gary but throughout Northwest Indiana.”

The Postal Service maintains the consolidation won’t impact local mail delivery.

“There was a time at mail processing facilities where they ran three full shifts and mail was flowing like a river,” U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Mary Dando said. “Well, that’s not the case now.”

The meeting is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Indiana University Northwest’s Bergland Auditorium at the Savannah Center, 3400 Broadway, Gary.