NJ - Post Office Problems Irk Many, Computer Blamed

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Title: Post Office Problems Irk Many

Published in the Home News Tribune 4/24/00 By TED SERRILL STAFF WRITER

It used to be that Monroe had an identity problem because it lacked a post office.

Now that the U.S. Postal Service has addressed that problem, some Jamesburg residents are complaining that Monroe is robbing them of their municipal identity.

They get mail addressed to them by name, or perhaps to "resident," at the correct street address and ZIP code, but the municipality listed on the bottom line of the address is not Jamesburg. It's Monroe.

Allen Markulin of Ridgeview Road in Jamesburg complained that he gets at least 30 pieces of mail a week that say "Monroe, N.J." in the address.

Every single sample ballot received by Jamesburg voters before Tuesday's school board election said Monroe on the bottom line instead of Jamesburg, reported Borough Council President Tony LaMantia.

Jamesburg Mayor Joseph Dipierro said that residents' egos are being bruised. "They resent the fact that they are not being identified as living in Jamesburg. We are losing our identity," he said.

It all started in October when, for the first time in its history, Monroe got its own post office. Previously, Monroe had been served by post offices in Spotswood, Cranbury, Hightstown, Englishtown and Jamesburg.

With the new post office, Monroe got a new ZIP code for the entire township. The township, which surrounds Jamesburg, now shares the borough's ZIP code, which is 08831.

Given the current situation, said Dipierro, the Postal Service should now give Monroe a separate ZIP code if it can't fix the problem.

Forget about giving Monroe and Jamesburg separate ZIP codes, said Robert Reese, postmaster for the two municipalities. In his opinion, it will never happen.

Reese said the problem is not the fault of the Postal Service. What's happening, he explained, relates to computer-generated, third-class mail.

Some bulk-mail senders like department stores rely on computers to print out addresses. Because Monroe has the bulk of the addresses in the Jamesburg/Monroe geographical area, some computers, viewing the 08831 ZIP code, will automatically address the mail to Monroe.

Mailers that purchase more expensive software will differentiate between towns that share a ZIP code, said the postmaster.

Third-class mail is a small part of most people's mail, Reese said. "Ninety percent of all mail to Jamesburg indicates 'Jamesburg, N.J.,' " he added.

Even in adjacent towns that have different ZIP codes, the problem can exist when a mailer's computer is not top grade, Reese said.

Reese denied that Jamesburg is losing its identity.

"Anybody who wants Jamesburg on the last line of their address has to be pro-active with their respondents," the postmaster said.

If mail from Macy's, for instance, says Monroe, the store should be contacted, said Reese, and urged to make whatever computer improvements are needed to ensure that third-class mail will say Jamesburg, not Monroe in the future.

Hank Dobenski, manager of a Century 21 office in Jamesburg, said there is also a problem with "mixed-up" mail deliveries on streets that exist in both municipalities, such as Buckelew Avenue, Half Acre Road and Forsgate Drive.

Markulin, the Ridgeview Road homeowner, said that sometimes he gets mail that should be going to a resident of Ridgewood Avenue in Monroe, and vice versa.

These mix-ups, said Reese, are also because of mailers who have not updated their computer software. He anticipated that the problems steadily will be rectified.

Municipalities with a dual ZIP code are not unusual, Reese noted. They include Dunellen/Green Brook and Manalapan/Englishtown. At the start, there are normal problems that are corrected over time, he said.

Englishtown Mayor Tom Reynolds said he does not know when the common ZIP code was originated, but looking back over the past 15 years, he can think of no particular problems.

"It seems to work," he said.

http://www.thnt.com/news/hnt/story/0,2109,268323,00.html

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