CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) – When Kevin Corrigan received the proposal, he couldn’t believe it. Corrigan is the association president of the Inverness IV condominiums in Clearwater and was looking for a bid to replace the mailboxes in the two buildings in the complex. The price tag: $25,263.72. His jaw dropped.
“We’re a retirement community, Chip,” said Corrigan. “This is a 55 and older, and if you can find a 55 year old person here you would be lucky. Most of the people here are in their 80s. They are on a fixed income.”
What makes matters worse, the association at Inverness III had their mailboxes replaced less than a year ago and the total cost was less than $5,000.
“We do not have that kind of money,” said Corrigan. “To pay five times as much money as our sister community paid less than a year ago. “
Corrigan explains, the association has to go through the U.S. Postal Service for approval to change the bank of mailboxes. Apparently, the other association had another project manager handling their case and approved replacing the mailboxes with the same type that they had.
The project manager assigned to Corrigan’s case is requiring him to upgrade the mailboxes which is far more costly.
If the mailboxes aren’t replaced, mail carriers could eventually notify their supervisors and stop delivering to the buildings completely. Residents would then have to drive to the post office to receive their mail. For some, like Robert Kunkis, who uses a scooter, that is not a safe option.
“Well, you’re crossing a major street,” said Kunkis. “You’re crossing Enterprise Road, and there’s no real lights at the intersections, so it would be a major inconvenience.”
8 On Your Side reached out to the postal service to find out why one set of standards applied to one set of buildings, whereas another set applies to another, and are awaiting a response.
