Chichester residents will be pleased to know that the rumors about a potential relocation of the hamlet’s post office, although true, have been circumvented. A postal service representative announced at the August 7 Shandaken town board meeting that the previous owners of the post office building had been disinclined to renew the lease, but the new owner is eager to keep the service in place.
When the postal service contacted town clerk Joyce Grant a few weeks ago, they were planning to survey Chichester for a location to set up a modular trailer. However, the service is now negotiating with the new owner of the existing post office building to renew the lease for five years.
In 2011, Chichester was threatened with the closing of its post office as the postal service contemplated doing away with 252 mail processing centers that were losing money. Hamlet residents were distressed with prospect of losing the only public hub in their community. Luckily, the order never went through.
Several residents attended the town board meeting, intending to speak in opposition to moving the post office out of the historic building shared with the Catskills Yoga House. The postal official, arriving late, reassured them that the lease renewal is in process, eliciting applause from the audience. Town supervisor Rob Stanley approved, noting, “We lose the post office, and the hamlet slowly goes, and the community’s identity gets lost.”
Join the family! 
