With the Becker Post Office closing its doors at its current location on Oct. 24, residents and curious neighbors have been wondering, what’s gonna happen to my PO box?

For the entire time the Becker PO has been put on notice about their lease ending this month, Becker Mayor Mark Kolbinger has been furiously trying to work things out with the post office to retain a building here in Becker. With the timeline shrinking, Kolbinger began researching area sites where he thought could accommodate just the PO boxes while the rest of the PO services continued out of Monticello for the time being.

As of this week, it appears Kolbinger’s persistence has paid off.

“While I continue to work hard every week to come to a permanent resolution to keep our post office in Becker, I’m glad the USPS agreed to our proposal to put temporary post office boxes at the Becker Community Center,” Kolbinger said.

Kolbinger said the the USPS told him their staff will be notifying box holders in Becker about the new location and also distributing the keys for the portable CBUs to be located outside at the Becker Community Center.  The CBUs will be post office boxes that are secured and similar to what people might see at an apartment complex.

“This will preserve mail service for our residents and businesses while we continue to seek a solution to have retail and operations permanently located in our community,” Kolbinger said.

But Kolbinger will not cease doing everything in his power to get the USPS to re-consider and make better efforts to find a permanent home in Becker. 

“Now that we have secured temporary mail delivery service for those residents and businesses who utilize post office boxes, I will be shifting my efforts to my ‘Keep the Becker post office in 55308’ campaign,” said Kolbinger. “I will be engaging with our local citizens to help in this endeavor as we lobby the USPS as well as our Federal elected officials.” 

Kolbinger said he will be asking for the public’s help to ensure that their voices are heard and common sense prevails.  

“Quite frankly, it’s ridiculous that our 55308 community, with over 10,000 residents, has to fight this hard to keep a local post office,” he said. “Please watch for details in the coming weeks as we enter the next phase.”

Kolbinger noted that he thinks it’s also important for everyone to remember that the Rademacher family (Bill’s Family Foods, Bill’s Superette) gave the post office several years’ notice and more than ample opportunity to prepare for this day. 

“I applaud Grant and his family for their continued dedication and commitment to our community,” Kolbinger said.