To outsiders, Yellow Jacket might look more like an intersection than a town.

But to the people of Yellow Jacket, the picturesque, black-and-white post office located at the crossroads has been the center of their community for 96 years.

The Yellow Jacket Post Office building, constructed of smooth-planed lumber in 1915, is believed to be the oldest post office building in the area.

Approximately 50 Yellow Jacket residents gathered in the fire substation Wednesday, sitting on folding metal chairs and leaning against the 1972 fire engine parked in the back. They were told their post office was one of more than 3,600 in the nation the U.S. Postal Service is studying for permanent closure.

Faced with a projected $10 billion deficit in the coming year, postal officials say that due to a decline in first class postage revenues, they must consider closing post offices to survive.

Post Office Operations Manager Walter McBain emphasized to Yellow Jacket residents the process is just a study that can be discontinued at any time. If the post office closes, rural contract delivery and post office box kiosks could be a replacement for the brick-and-mortar office.

“What we’re trying to do is figure out how we can best serve the people here in Yellow Jacket,” he said.

Yellow Jacket resident Miscelle Allison said she collected more than 70 signatures of post office box holders opposed to the closure.

“That post office is our identity,” Allison said. “A lot of us meet each other there. If you take that away, it kills our community.”

Residents said their post office is a place to meet for social interaction. If someone was not picking up their mail for a few days, their postmaster would notice, they said. Several said they receive temperature sensitive medications and live animals in the mail that would freeze if placed in a kiosk during the winter. Other’s worried about the closure of the post office taking away the town’s identity.

“There will still be a Yellow Jacket, Colorado 81325,” McBain said.

Several times, postal officials encouraged postal customers to talk to their congressional representatives. Although the U.S. Postal Service acts in many ways like a private company, many of the regulations are mandated by Congress.

If Congress repeals a 2006 requirement that the service prefund retirement and benefits for its employees, and reduce deliveries to five days a week, the service could save $10 billion annually, said Marcela Rivera, post office review coordinator.

The postal service isn’t asking for a bailout, McBain said.

“We’re asking to be able to run our business efficiently,” he said.

Some customers at the meeting expressed a willingness to pay a small fee or be served with reduced business hours in order to keep their post office open.

Lewis and Pleasant View post offices were studied for closure earlier this year. After public meetings in June, the closure studies for those two locations were halted. The postal service cited savings from moving mail-sorting operations to Dove Creek as the reason for discontinuing the studies.

During the study process, local postal employees are instructed to remain impartial.

“I think it’s terrible that the post office employees have no say,” Allison said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, residents said rerouting mail through Dove Creek has led to mistakes and delays in the delivery of their mail. McBain acknowledged the mistakes and said the postal service is ironing out the kinks. Changes in the future may cause an increase of a day for delivery times, he said.

Due to an increase in digital correspondence and online bill pay, first class mail has declined. This is the postal service’s primary source of income, Rivera said.

The Yellow Jacket Post office costs $71,552 annually, Rivera said. The post office generated $11,945 in revenue in fiscal year 2010.

Several residents asked why big city post offices are not being considered instead. Postal officials said cuts are being made on all levels, including urban areas.

After a 60-day public comment period, feedback will be compiled into a proposal that will be sent to U.S. Postal Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., Rivera said. After that time, the proposal will be sent back to the district for public posting and a 30-day period during which the proposal can be appealed.

An appeal, although not a guarantee that the closure will be stopped, will postpone the process for 120 days.

“This is a long process,” Rivera said. “It’s a process that allows the customers to be involved.”

From Yellow Jacket, it is four miles to the Lewis Post office and nearly five miles to the Pleasant View Post Office. Concerns were raised at the meeting as to whether the neighboring post offices could handle the added capacity if Yellow Jacket Post Office were to close.

Other local post offices being studied for closure are at Egnar, Rico and Mesa Verde National Park.

Reach Reid Wright at reidw@cortezjournal.com.