Vandalism, staff shortages blamed for long lines at Dillon Post Office
A break-in Wednesday night has the Dillon Post Office looking to replace lighting outside, replace a broken gate over the front desk, paint over graffiti, replace screws taken out of the front doors, and keep the doors open during the process. Dillon Postmaster Mike Mendillo putting in extra work to make sure his post office is running during the holiday season, even if that's slowly with 3 employees including himself.
"We lost a whole day during the holiday season and we couldn't open and that is one of the reasons we have a line today," Mendillo said. He told Mountain Newsroom Reporter Spencer Wilson the normal average package load for them is 400. Right now, they're seeing 3,000-4,000 a day, and 8,000-9,000 on busy days like Saturday and Monday.
That makes for painfully long lines. One man was successful in ordering a pizza in the line and having it delivered before he turned the last corner in the office. Others told Wilson the line took an hour on average at that length.
Postal Service spokesperson James Boxrud explained that if it was it another location dealing with the vandalism, the office might have closed altogether, forcing residents to go to other places like Silverthorne's post office, or Frisco's, which are also seeing staffing issues.
Mendillo said he has two employees set to join them soon, but they could hire up to 14 people, they simply don't have the applicants to fill that many positions. He said he knows the cost of living is the issue, but he can't change the national budget set for all postal workers.
"Each position pays what it pays," Mendillo said. "The upside of it, is we start off at $18.96 an hour, but after 6 months you are up to $25-$26 an hour with all the federal benefits."
The mailroom is supposed to be open 24/7, but because of the gate issue, the office has had to close at night until it is fixed, which Mendillo said could take a week or two since the replacement is on backorder.
In the meantime, he will continue putting in long hours, trying to help move the long lines through to get frustrated customers the help they need, as soon as he can get it to them.
"We are doing everything we can to take care of you, get you your packages, and we are looking to find a way to extend the hours a little bit as the holiday approaches," Mendillo said. "We have 6 days left before the big day, we are going to do what we can."
