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Mailboxes take hard hits during snowplow season
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - January 21, 2009)
Mailboxes take hard hits during snowplow season
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
The postal worker's motto of "neither sleet, nor snow, nor rain, nor dark of night" stopping the mail never took into account the snowplow effect.
When the snow flies, sometimes so do mailboxes.
"We live in this climate, and we have to adjust to that," Burton Village Street Commissioner Lynn Rose said.
Each year, hundreds of mailboxes disappear from their posts as plow workers do their job in clearing roads for safe passage. More times than not, it's the force of the plowed snow that takes them down, not the plows striking them.
And that makes the difference between receiving a new mailbox courtesy of the road department or having to head down to the local hardware store for a new one. In virtually every community, the boxes are replaced at no cost to the homeowner only if it can be proven that it was the plow, not the force of the snow, that destroyed them.
Geauga County Engineer Robert Phillips said drivers often know when it is the plow that strikes the mailbox and will report it. Sometimes, he said, if time allows, drivers will help reinstall the box, even if it was only the snow.
Steven Borawski, who heads the street department for the City of Chardon and serves as a Chardon Township trustee, said it's important that homeowners hold onto the box, so officials can determine whether it was the plow or just the force of the snow that brought down the box. He said the difference is obvious.
Mr. Rose said people often complain that it is the speed of the snowplow driver that causes the force of the snow to be so great as to take down a box. But he said plow drivers can easily take down mailboxes at just 22 mph if it is a heavy, wet snow.
Mr. Phillips said the design of the plow has more to do with the force of the snow than the speed. He said plows are designed to force the snow into a tightly packed spiral as it comes out. "It's like a hose of snow," he said.
James Teichman, Munson Township road superintendent, said often people allow mailboxes to fall into disrepair with a rotting post or rusted fasteners, which can contribute to a mailbox going down.
Each year, he said, he hears from about 20 residents who believe their mailboxes came down as a result of a plow striking it. After investigation, he said, usually only one or two can be proven to have been struck.
He said one resident argued that they saw the plow hit the mailbox. But, when a neighbor came out to report that their private snowplow service had actually backed into it, the argument ended.
And those who run the road crews are not immune from losing their mailboxes.
Mr. Teichman said he is convinced that plow drivers target his mailbox. He has erected a batter board, a piece of plywood staked to the ground, that has a picture of a mailbox with a bulls-eye printed on it.
Mr. Phillips said he has lived on a county road for six years and is now on his third mailbox.
He said while many rely on a batter board for protection, it is not the best idea. Often the weight of the snow on the board will eventually bend over and push down the mailbox. The best option, he said, may be a slotted board, similar to a picket fence, "You don't want to stop it (the snow)," he said. "You just want to break it up. It takes all the energy out of it."
He said plastic mailboxes tend to shatter more easily because they become brittle in cold weather.
Each of the government entities has a limit on how much they will pay to replace a mailbox hit by a snowplow.
Mr. Borawski said Chardon Township will provide up to $35 for a mailbox that is struck.
Mr. Lynn said Burton Village will only replace the lost mailbox with a standard one. Village Fiscal Officer Christopher Paquette said if someone has a more costly and ornate mailbox they would have to come to council to ask for more than the normal replacement.
Mr. Phillips said he has had people demand that they replace a $500 mailbox, but the county sticks to a $30 limit.
Mr. Teichman said Munson Township also limits the replacement cost to the basic box, about $9 in cost.
Victor Dubina, whose office covers Northeast Ohio for the U.S. Postal Service, said it is a wintertime problem, but one that most postal workers know is coming.
He said postal workers will hold the mail when the mailbox is gone and will wait until a new box is installed. He said customers can also pick up their mail at the local post office if they wish. And, he said, if you get along with your neighbor, the mail can be delivered there until a new box is installed.
"Just let the postmaster know, and they'll pass word onto the carrier," he said.
A bigger problem for carriers is clearing snow around the mailbox, he said. The postal operations manual states that mailboxes must be "safely and conveniently served by carriers without leaving their vehicles.
The postal service also dictates specifications for how a mailbox must be installed. The box must be 41 to 45 inches from the ground to the bottom of the box, he said. And, it must be 6 to 8 inches from the edge of the road.
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