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Star Valley Ranch braces for USPS delivery change that shifts sorting to Town Hall
Summary
Town officials said the USPS has classified Star Valley Ranch as a "drop location," meaning contracted carriers would deliver mail and packages to a town mail center rather than sorting into resident boxes; the town is preparing space and weighing budget options for continued resident distribution.
Town Administrator Aitken told the Star Valley Ranch Town Council that the United States Postal Service has verbally reclassified the town as a "drop location," a change that would require the third-party carrier to deliver mail only to a central building rather than sort it into individual resident mailboxes. The town also learned that packages previously held at the Thayne post office for resident pickup will be delivered directly to the mail center at Town Hall. The town currently receives roughly 310 to 510 USPS packages per day.
The Administrator said the town has prepared a letter, co-authored with Mayor Rok, to distribute to residents that summarizes the emerging situation and lists steps the town is taking. Officials have contacted postmasters in Thayne and Afton, reached out to state and congressional representatives and are exploring whether a dedicated ZIP code for Star Valley Ranch is feasible. Aitken said the timeline communicated by USPS ranged from immediately to July 1, creating significant uncertainty about when operational changes must be in place.
Council members discussed short-term options to handle resident distribution. The town has purchased shelving and is exploring installing a roll-up door at the mail center to facilitate package pickup. Elected officials said cluster-style community boxes were considered but judged impractical because winter snow would make access difficult in some neighborhoods. Officials also noted the town could privately contract a third party to sort and distribute mail into individual boxes, but that such a contract would be an unbudgeted expense and could require a budget amendment. The Council briefly discussed an annual mailbox fee beyond the current one-time key fee (about $100 for new residents) as a potential way to recover costs.
Mayor Rok and the Administrator said they will distribute the joint letter to residents the following day, monitor USPS timelines, and continue discussions with federal and state representatives. If the USPS change is finalized, the council may revisit the town budget to account for any ongoing operational costs tied to mail sorting and package handling.
