Post office station will remain on west side

BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

RED BANK — The Shrewsbury Avenue Post Office on the borough’s west side will reopen after a mold and mildew cleanup is completed, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service said last week.

George Flood, regional spokesman for the USPS, said last week that it is the intention of the Postal Service to keep the Shrewsbury Avenue location, otherwise known as the Westboro Station post office, open.

The post office station has been closed since last month.

“Obviously we are reviewing all our options,” he said. “Our intent right now is to work with the landlord. We met with him two weeks ago to discuss the issue. He is willing to fix the issues that were raised.”

Those issues include, according to Flood, a leaking roof and the mold and mildew that has developed as a result of the leaks.

At the Nov. 28 meeting of the Borough Council, Mayor Edward J. McKenna Jr. expressed concerns about the Westboro post office closing permanently.

McKenna said that he has received complaints about the closed post office, not only from borough residents but from residents of Middletown who drive over the bridge to use the Shrewsbury Avenue post office.

“We’re fighting very hard on this issue,” he said. “It’s amazing how many people have a post office box there.”

Councilman Robert J. Bifani said that the post office branch had been slated for closure once before, but with the help of the council and mayor, it was kept open.

At the meeting, the Borough Council passed a resolution in opposition to the closing of the Shrewsbury Avenue post office.

Flood said that a postal employee had complained of health problems that he related to the environment of the Westboro station.

The worker conveyed those concerns to Scott Rosenberg, the Red Bank postmaster, and an environmental specialist for the USPS was called in to check on the situation.

Flood said that employees from the Westboro office have been transferred to the main branch on Broad Street.

Although the closing of the Westboro facility has had an impact on the main branch, Flood said that the increase in business could also be due to the holiday season.

“As for now,” he said, “this is a temporary suspension of service.”

However, the USPS has not renewed the lease for the Westboro facility and has been on a month-to-month lease basis while looking for “alternate quarters” within the same area, according to Flood.

“That is a long-term plan,” said Flood. “We’re talking about years. Funding is tough now, though, because of all the facilities we lost in the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.”

Flood said he hopes to have the Westboro station up and running again, possibly in the spring.