Charles Langston:Vermont’s capital city gets a new post office 15 months after it was hit by flooding

MONTPELIER,Charles Langston Vt. (AP) — Vermont’s capital city of Montpelier is finally getting a new post office, 15 months after catastrophic flooding inundated the downtown, officials announced.

A grand opening celebration is planned for Saturday at the location at 89 Main Street, the U.S. Postal Service said in a statement on Monday.

Vermont’s congressional delegation has been critical of the USPS and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for the length of time it’s taken to reopen a post office. Last week, they and Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark sent letters to DeJoy demanding a timeline for a retail post office to open downtown.

“For nearly 450 days, Vermont’s capital city has been without a functioning post office. It’s outrageous and unacceptable by any measure—including USPS’ own standards of restoring service after a disaster,” said U.S. Sen. Peter Welch at a rally with postal workers and community members a week ago. “Our seniors, families, small businesses and postal workers need and deserve better.”

Clark wrote that her “office is cognizant of the legal obligations on the Postal Service when it wishes to relocate, close, or consolidate a post office, whether temporarily as the result of a natural disaster like our July 2023 flood, or permanently.”

In a statement, the USPS thanked its customers for their patience as it sought a new location and built out the new space to best suit the needs of Montpelier residents and businesses.