Letter to a county commissioner
 

So, if a county road crew creates a problem, shouldn't the county fix the problem?

Dear Mr. Lindsey,

My husband and I are caught between two government agencies and don’t know where to turn. Our mail box was installed properly many years ago. We got the regulations from the post office and put it at the right height. Many years later Linn County road crew pulled it up and did some repaving of our road (KGAL Dr.). They put the mail boxes back up, but at a reduced height. Nobody complained about it, so we just assumed all was okay. Now we’re told we have two weeks to fix the problem or mail delivery will be stopped.

Today, we received a notice from the Post Office that it needs to be raised to the proper height. We went to the local post office and were told they would try to get a waiver for our box, but couldn’t guarantee it. We tried to call Linn County Roads, but didn’t get to talk with anyone that could help. We hoped maybe you could have more luck.

We are not alone with this problem. At the Lebanon Post office we were told that there were 11 such notices issued along **** Drive. When the road work was done, many of the mailboxes were removed and replaced.

We feel that since this problem was caused by the county road department’s failure to know of mailbox height requirements it should be the department’s responsibility to fix it. Judging by the comments we received when we called the road department, they disagree.

Please call us to discuss this. *** *** ****


Paul & Cindy Donkin

Is this really worth your time and consternation? Pay a guy to fix your mailbox and go shoot some pool.

To determine the correct (laziest) redneck remedy for this situation, I'm gonna need
1-pics of the mailbox
2-measurement of how high it needs to be raised.
3-pics of several other mailboxes in the area. Are they together? Do they all match? Is there some shi-shi HOA covenant regarding mailboxes?

Depends on how mailbox is mounted/attached. Ours is on a 4x4 post - when the postman complained (it was 1" out of spec, too low) I checked the specs and made it .5" within the upper limit. Took 10 minutes and 2 nails.

If however, I had a set up like some folks down the road - a brick box to hold it all, one guy has a driveshaft of some sort buried in concrete, etc - and it wasn't a trivial job to fix, I would indeed be raising some noise about it.

Get the address of the county office that manages the road crew....take your mailbox down there......and throw it through their front window. Then say "I'd like to speak to someone in charge."

That might get their attention....

Dear Mr & Mrs. Donkin,

We understand what kind of frustration you must be experiencing. We work hard to resolve issues that you, as well as others in the community, face.

We intend to address the issue that you and others have brought to our attention. You will be excited to know we currently have a proposal to lower the road, bringing the mail boxes back to regulation height.

Unfortunately, we are going to raise your taxes astronomically to achieve that goal.

Sincerely,

Your Gubment

"If I do not hear from you in 48 hours, I will contact a guy named Widebody911, who has a nasty skunk turd in his yard. He will send it to me. I will send it to you. Know this- I am not afraid to use it. "

lol....

If you were to subscribe to Penthouse Variations and have it delivered by mail, I can assure you that not only will the Post Office waive your mail box height violation, or any other violation for that matter, you will also never lose another piece of mail coming to you again!

Same thing happened on our road, we complained and the county had to replace all the posts.

Metal pipe post. set in concrete. Not just us, both the neighbors we talked to mounted the same. No HOA to answer to. New post office regional manager, a stickler for "rules". What happened, county road dept. dug everything up with a backhoe, must have not refilled when replacing the concrete. One poor neighbor has blacktop completely surrounding his post, laid by the county.

Another funny thing..County did the roadwork 3, maybe 4 years ago. No postal notices until this new postal bureaucrat decided to send out inspection crews...

I'm sure it'll probably end up being on my dime. Just pisses me off that Govt. is so talented at taking our money, then using it to add hassles to our lives. So, decided to have some fun, see if I could sic one government entity onto another. Other neighbors have joined in the effort...

(edit) Most of the neighbors are like me...could be called "elderly", no matter how much we hate that term. So, we should be either digging or hiring labor to repair damage by a county road crew? Actually, I probably wouldn't dig...seems simpler to hire somebody with a portable welder to cut the pipe, weld in an extension or a sleeve of larger pipe.

You are sic'ing the wrong way. Feds tell the county, find someone higher up within the postal service.

Working that angle as well. Local post office head says he'll contact the big regional guy. We'll see. Pissed me off that I couldn't talk to the roadmaster...just got the runaround, told to call other numbers, got a promise of a call back that never happened. Gee, maybe if a County Commissioner calls, the roadmaster will find the time to talk to him?

What is the height change required? Why not piss them off by lowering the soil around the base?

Did your wife write the letter? Or do you have a husband?

Get a lawyer.
Don't fight the gubmnit alone. :D

LOL! Cindy wrote it, I helped polish it a bit. Rules state the height measured from where the mail carrier stops...

Tell them to lower the USPS truck suspension to Euro height...

I guess your mail delivery person is just too dammed lazy to drive up to your place and tell you there is a problem with mailbox height? Sounds like the folks at the post office are like a bunch of Larry the Cable Guy types and had more fun doing up those notices and going to all that trouble which probably cost double the time and costs of having the carrier do it? I agree with the post with just raising it.....this whole mess sounds like something that would happen in CA and not up North?

If you think "up north" is one bit less full of meddling and non responsive bureaucrats than California better think again.

My edit.