Council to administer community‑mailbox keys after Postmaster outlines USPS rules and liabilities

Pelican Rapids city leaders on Sept. 24 discussed responsibility and liability for relocated curbside mailbox units (CBUs) after road‑narrowing on state and county highways made previous delivery locations unsafe.

Postmaster Tessa Nord told the council that where a roadway change prevents safe delivery, U.S. Postal Service guidance places responsibility for providing replacement CBUs and their long‑term maintenance on the entity that made the change. She cited the Postal Service Manual (PUM 623.2) as the operating guidance describing delivery responsibilities and said that while the state helped pay for some CBUs in the current project, future replacements and maintenance fall to the city if the roadway adjustment caused the service change.

Councilmembers and Tessa discussed practical administration: who holds keys, how to handle lost keys and lock changes, and whether the city should be the administrator. Tessa said the post office must be involved in any lock change and offered to attend lock changes for a standard fee. The council weighed options including requiring citizens to take all three keys for a CBU and charging a deposit to cover a lock change if keys are not returned.

After discussion, council adopted a policy (voice vote) to administer CBUs placed because of the project and to charge an administrative fee and deposit to cover lock replacement and staff time. Council directed staff to document the program’s terms and to make key‑distribution procedures clear to residents. The council did not record a roll‑call vote or individual vote tallies in the transcript.

What happens next: city staff will prepare written procedures, set the exact fee and deposit amounts consistent with the policy direction given at the meeting, and coordinate with the post office on lock‑change logistics.