East Coulee post office moves to community box

    The post office in the East Coulee School Museum will be shutting its doors as Canada Post will open a community post box near the community bulletin board.     The move comes after the museum chose to resign from providing Canada Post service a couple of months ago. The decision was made early last week, and will take effect on July 18.
    There was no one else in East Coulee who volunteered to become a dealer.
    “When we did our survey of the community, there were no other individuals or businesses to become dealers,” says Kathi Neal, communications manager with Canada Post.
    Cliff Deitz of the East Coulee Community Association said they released a survey questioning residents on their feelings towards the closing of the school museum post office. Deitz said they only received four responses, all of which were positive.
    Brent Noland, president of the Dinosaur Valley Heritage Society, which runs the East Coulee School Museum, told The Mail closing the post office was a difficult decision.
    “Unfortunately the postal service (stamp shop) no longer fits with our new seasonal operations model. We thank our long-time customers and hope the new service meets their needs.”
    East Coulee residents should have already received notification of the change and directions on where to pick up their new keys.
    “There are over 100 addresses that need a mailbox right in the community for their conveniences, so we’ve looked after those customers and we’ve provided additional mailboxes for growth,” says Neal. “We are pleased with this location because it is right across the street from where residents had picked up their mail.”
    Neal says communities generally respond positively to community mailboxes: there is an outgoing mail slot, a parcel pickup area. Canada Post products like stamps will have to be picked up in Drumheller or Rosedale.
    “The idea here is to really provide the best convenience to a community with no disruption. Our job is to deliver mail to the community in a convenient fashion at a location I’m sure they’ll find quite convenient.”