by Adam Clagg
posted October 26, 2006
Lupton City residents were told on Thursday that free mailboxes will soon be installed at each home, but their street addresses will change.
Mayor Ron Littlefield, Councilwoman Sally Robinson and many others addressed the large crowd in Lupton City. More than 150 people gathered to learn about mail service, but heard much more.
The attendees included children and senior residents like Stena Harper, a Lupton City resident and postal customer for 68 years.
Officials said the city will begin installing mail boxes within the next few days. Dan Johnson, Chief of Staff in the mayor's office, said the mail boxes were paid for by the United States Postal Service, R.L. Stowe Mills, and Congressman Zach Wamp. The city's public works employees will be installing the boxes.
John Robertson, Jr. is the manager of post office operations. He said he expected to hear boos as he addressed the crowd. Residents received a letter of notification from Mr. Robertson less than a week before their post office was closed. Many postal customers were outraged concerning the little amount of notice they received from Mr. Robertson, it was earlier reported.
Mr. Robertson told the crowd that he proposed a modular post office or a cluster of mailboxes to be installed on or near the old post office city. He said the area vice president denied the request. He told the residents "the post office is a business." The cost of moving a modular post office from Nashville would be $100,000, and a postmaster would be about $50,000. He also said when the Lupton City post office was open, it cost the Postal Service $100 every day.
Lupton City residents will now have their mail delivered to their homes by a contract delivery service carrier. Mr. Robertson said this person will "walk your streets and sidewalks." He continued, "Anything you could have done with the post office, you can do with the contract delivery service."
Residents were also surprised to learn their mailing addresses will soon be changing. Because of the new 9-1-1 system and the GIS integration with 9-1-1, officials said the house numbers will change for all postal customers with one, two, or three digit house numbers. Since every postal customer has less than four digits in Lupton City, then every house number will change. This was the first time most residents had heard about this change.
R.L. Stowe Mill opened its gymnasium for the Lupton City Neighborhood Meeting. Councilwoman Robinson told the crowd that Lupton City is a "beautiful community with a rich history." This past summer, those in city government decided to have a meeting in Lupton City, she said.
Mayor Littlefield, former Commissioner for Public Works and councilman for District 6, told the residents of his personal history with mill towns. He said he grew up in a mill town. Both his parents worked in a mill and both his grand-fathers built homes for the mill workers.
Many city administrators were in attendance. Some gave presentations, but all were available for one-on-one conversations with citizens. Steve Leach (Public Works), Tony Sammons (Neighborhood Services), Matt Lea, (Constituent Service Guide), Lee Norris (3-1-1), Justin Steinman (Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency), Beverly Johnson (Neighborhood Services), Missy Crutchfield (Education, Arts, and Culture), along with many others made themselves available to each citizen who wanted to speak with them.
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