Plans are still in place for Canada Post to implement community mailboxes in North Battleford, much to the City’s chagrin.
City Planner Ryan Mackrell said in a memo to council dated Oct. 6 that city administration “has been in contact with Canada Post regarding the implementation of the Community Mailboxes in North Battleford.”
According to the memo Canada Post would provide the location for the mailbox and then the planning department would check into each location and look into potential problems and impact to the neighbourhood. Factors include streetlights, sidewalks, whether residents are able to get their mail with minimum interference, impact on property owners and others.
Canada Post is also anticipating starting a door-knocking campaign to consult residents on the changes. In advance of that they are looking for administration to finish the review of potential mailbox locations by Oct. 23, according to Mackrell’s memo.
This information came forward at council Tuesday. However, city administration made it clear they were not supportive of the decision to move to community mailboxes.
City Manager Jim Puffalt said it was “not a decision we had any part of,” and added they “would encourage the status quo to remain. However, it appears Canada Post has determined their path.”
He said planning was working with Canada Post and would be meeting over the next couple of weeks.
“We have no say in this other than to try and get the mailboxes in the most logical spot.”
Councillor Ryan Bater wanted to know if there was a rent involved in putting the boxes up on city property. No, responded Puffalt.
Also, Bater asked if homeowners could be compensated if mailboxes went up, noting the impact on resale value. “Nobody’s going to want this next to their house,” said Bater. But Puffalt was pessimistic about the prospect that anything could be done.
“The problem is it’s a national decision,” he said.
“It’s very unlikely that we could do anything about it. We certainly raised it with them, we’re raising a number of the issues of where they’re trying to locate them.”
