A small town in KOTA Territory could lose their post office - KOTA Territory News

A small town in KOTA Territory could lose their post office

For the past 26 years this has been Neoma Richter's second home.

But soon that could change.

"I'd miss the contact with my customers, they're my family," says Neoma.

She could lose her job, as the U.S. postal service looks to cut spending and close many rural post offices.

"I'm most concerned about my customers and about the services they will or won't receive," says Neoma Richter.

In the last quarter alone, the U.S. Postal Service lost more than 3 billion dollars. And they're expected to cut more than 220 thousand jobs by 2015 and possibly close another 35 hundred offices not including those already on the line.

"There's a possibility that all the rural post offices on this route could close and there would be no post offices between Sturgis and Pierre," says Nancy Richter.

If the post office in Enning does close, large packages that can't fit in a mail box people would have to drive 52 miles to Sturgis to pick it up.

"It'd be a huge inconvenience to have to drive to Sturgis especially in the winter," adds Nancy Richter.

A community meeting to address questions and concerns about the possible closure left attendees with more questions. The only answers were vague.

"I understand their concern but there is certain criteria we have to look at. We want to do whatever we can to be profitable and to help with those growing pains," says Steve Carter, the Manager of Post Office Operations.

How much money would be saved by closing the office wasn't clear, but the community's determination to keep their town hub" open was.

Neoma says, "if we're going down, we're going down fighting."