NORWAY, Maine — The U.S. Postal Service has announced a plan that will keep several local post offices from being closed but reduce the hours of many others as they attempt to reduce a deficit.

Under the proposal which was just released about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, dozens of area post offices would have their hours of operation reduced  anywhere from two to four hours daily.

Nearly three dozen post offices and branches in Maine, including some in central and western Maine, had been considered for closure by the U.S. Postal Service last year. The local post offices under consideration at that time included Paris Hill, North Waterford, Danville in Auburn, Stoneham and East Livermore.

It now appears that most of those post offices  and many others in this area, including East Poland,  Hebron, Paris,  East Dixfield, Minot, Buckfield and many others will have their hours reduced but not face closure.

The list is preliminary only and must undergo additional review.

Postmaster General Pat Donahoe said Wednesday the new plan would provide the postal service with the ability to achieve significant cost savings of up to half a billion dollars annually as part of the plan to return the organization to financial stability.

Under the new plan, post offices will remain open but some may have their hours reduced or be co-located to a nearby business. Details on the specific changes are expected to be unfurled later today.

Access to the retail lobby and to PO boxes would remain unchanged and the town’s ZIP Code and community identity would be retained. The plan would not be fully implemented in September of 2014, said Donahue.

Postal Service spokesman Tom Rizzo told the Sun Journal today that the community will have an opportunity to weigh in on the  final decisions of their local post office before the action is implemented. No information about the future of the specific Maine post ofices were avilable this morning.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, one of the lead sponsors of bipartisan, comprehensive postal reform legislation, issued the following statement regarding the Postmaster General’s comments today about rural post offices.

“I am cautiously optimistic that the Postmaster General has now devised a plan that will help preserve some essential postal services for rural America, while allowing the Postal Service to reduce its costs as it must do,” said Collins in a statement issued this morning. “Reduced hours at certain post offices or their co-location with another facility or a retail store, if properly designed, could well accomplish both goals. To be effective, such a plan must, however, take into account people’s schedules and post offices should be open at times convenient to their customers.”

A list of post offices affected by today’s announcement and additional details is available at http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/welcome.htm

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