Post-office shutdown will get a second look

The Daily Inter Lake

The U.S. Postal Service has agreed to reconsider a contract for the Martin City Post Office - but it will keep Martin City post-office boxes at Hungry Horse for two months, a spokesman for Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said Tuesday.

Virginia Sloan, Tester's Flathead field director, met with John DiPeri, the Postal Service's Big Sky district manager, on Tuesday morning in Hungry Horse.

The federal agency agreed to gauge public opinion and may put the Martin City contract out for bid again.

Tester intervened last week, imploring the Postal Service to keep mail service going in the small Canyon community.

Postal service in Martin City was suspended Friday because contract postmaster Val Johnson stepped down from the job. She had given the agency a 60-day notice, but it was unable to find a replacement contractor to keep the post office running.

"I appreciate the fact that the Postal Service is listening to concerns from folks in Martin City and hasn't made any permanent decisions about the post office there," Tester said. "Post offices play a critically important role in small-town Montana, and the Postal Service shouldn't be in the business of downsizing or relocating any of them without full community notice and public input.

"I'll be working closely with them to make sure Martin City has good access to the postal services it deserves," he said.