SIGURD, Utah — Residents in the small Sevier County town of Sigurd say they’re still fighting to bring local mail service back to their community, six years after their post office closed.
Sigurd’s postmaster retired in 2020, and residents have since had to make the more-than-10-mile drive to Richfield to pick up their mail.
“We have been fighting to keep a post office in our town,” Sigurd Mayor Jennifer Bastian said.
Bastian says the town of a little over 400 has repeatedly tried to find a solution, but residents have struggled to get clear answers about what would be required to restore some type of local mail service.
The town says it isn’t necessarily asking for traditional home delivery. Instead, officials have explored options that would allow residents to pick up their mail closer to home.
WATCH | Sigurd mail fight continues
“Not asking for much. I mean other people have mail service and we need it!” Bastian said.
Sigurd City Councilwoman Michele Visarraga says the current situation is especially difficult for older residents.
“It really is an inconvenience, and primarily for the elderly,” Visarraga said. “It’s just really difficult for them.”
She said parking and accessibility at the Richfield post office can also be challenging.
The town says it has explored several options, including a contract postal unit, or CPU, which would operate inside an established local business.
FOX 13 first reported on Sigurd’s mail service issue in June 2022. In response to our latest questions, the U.S. Postal Service gave us the following statement.
“The Postal Service reviewed requests to reestablish a CPU; however, we did not receive a proposal that meets all the requirements for operating a CPU inside an established business in Sigurd,” USPS Corporate Communications representative Sherry Patterson said, “As a result, there are no plans at this time to reopen a CPU.”
FOX 13 asked USPS for additional clarification about which requirements were not met but did not receive further details.
Bastian says she believed there was a moratorium on issuing new CPUs, but the town also explored another option: installing a cluster box unit, or CBU, where residents could retrieve their mail locally.
“We’ll build the building, we’ll buy the boxes, if you’ll just bring us the mail,” Bastian said. “We’ll even hire someone to put the mail in the slots for our residents, and still was told no.”
Now, town leaders say they are talking with their federal representatives as they continue looking for a solution.
“Tell us, is there something Sigurd as a town can do to have their post office,” Bastian said. “We’re willing, we’re more than willing. Our residents need it.”