Will get bids for replacing
Dennis F. Hoffman | President & Broker
Community Management Associates | 1465 Northside Drive Ste 128 | Atlanta, GA
30318
404.835.9100 ext. 105 | 404.835.9200 fax |
dhoffman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | www.cmacommunities.com
-----Original Message-----
From: William Hauser [mailto:wm.hauser@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2015 10:39 AM
To: highland-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Dennis Hoffman; Highland Board
Subject: Mailbox System In Disrepair
All,
It seems our mailboxes are near the end of their useful life. I can only speak
of the first panel on the left side of the alcove, which I believe covers units
101-401. On a monthly (if not weekly) basis, the master door for this panel of
boxes is left either partially or fully unlatched by the mailman/woman --
leaving that group of 20+ mailboxes unsecured. This may be due to the
inattentiveness of the postal employee. But I believe the larger issue is that
these mailbox units are simply wearing out from years of metal-on-metal wear,
with apparently no lubrication, making it difficult (if not impossible) to
adequately secure. And keep in mind, I'm not talking about individual mailboxes
left unlocked by their owners (as we often see). I'm talking about the master
panel, which if left unlocked leaves 20+ boxes unsecured.
I have called the postmaster at the post office which services our community
when mailbox panels have been left unsecured in the past, but that's not a very
efficient way to deal with this ongoing, monthly or weekly problem --
especially if the problem is discovered at night, or on a holiday or weekend
(like this weekend).
I have also noticed the panel containing the outgoing mail as well as mailboxes
for large packages to be in bad shape. Again, sometimes the outgoing mail door
is left unsecured, and also the locks on the mailboxes for large packages don't
work as intended (they're simply worn out it seems).
Bottom line: can either Dennis or the Board research the feasibility of
replacing our mailbox system? With ID theft and credit card fraud as rampant as
it is now, it's a little unnerving to find 20+ mailboxes unsecured on a fairly
regular basis. If there are folks looking for unlocked car doors in our
community, there are no doubt others checking for unsecured mailboxes.
The link below is admittedly an example of an extreme case -- and we are
nowhere near this point -- but USPS stopped delivering to the complex mentioned
in this news story, which meant the tenants had to retrieve their mail from a
nearby post office instead of their mailbox. What a pain. And while the
mailboxes mentioned in the article suffered more from vandalism than normal
wear & tear, the result is the same: unsecured mail and ultimately a delivery
stoppage. All I'm saying is let's address the problem and be done with it.
Things wear out, and that's why we pay maintenance fees.
http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/decatur/2015/07/14/decatur-missing-mail/30158449/
Thanks in advance.
Bill Hauser
wm.hauser@xxxxxxxxx
