The New Tripoli Post Office counter will remain open for six hours weekdays and retain its Saturday morning service, U.S. Postal Service officials announced last Tuesday.

The news comes as a relief to area residents concerned the office would close in the wake of reduced revenue from postal customers who now use the Internet to shop, pay bills and communicate with distant friends and relatives.

The new hours from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (closed for lunch 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.) Monday through Friday; 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Saturdays; and closed on Sundays will take effect on or after Jan. 12, 2013.

Mail delivery and lobby hours for post office box users (8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.) will remain the same.

"I'm a customer here, too, so of course I wanted it to stay open," said Lori Billig, who has worked the New Tripoli Post Office counter for the last eight years. "Even though it's an inconvenience to customers to have a six-hour day rather than eight, it's better than having it closed."

The USPS sent 2,409 surveys last month to gauge public opinion regarding options to keep the New Tripoli Post Office open.

Eighty-seven percent of the survey's 851 respondents opted to realign the office window hours rather than switch to mail delivery only (6 percent), move the operation to a post office in a nearby town (3 percent), or find a local business to provide postal services (2 percent).

One percent of respondents returned the survey but had no opinion.

The move comes as part of a five-year USPS program to cut costs, said Renee Rusyn, acting manager of post office operations for central Pennsylvania, who announced the survey results to about 25 area residents at the New Tripoli Fire Company on Oct. 23.

She cited a 27-percent drop in postal retail visits nationwide, from 1.28 billion in 2005 to just less than a billion in 2011, and reminded the crowd the USPS is not tax supported, but must cover its costs through the sale of stamps and postal products.

"This is not that big of an impact on the community, and that's a good thing," Rusyn said, after the 20-minute meeting, at which she and co-worker Carrie Frankenfield sought feedback and questions from local residents. "We're trying to save the infrastructure that's already in place."

Rural mail carrier and New Tripoli resident Jimmy Bachman asked about the outgoing mail collection times, which Rusyn and Frankenfield said would remain the same – 4:30 p.m. in the outside box and 5 p.m. inside on weekdays, 10:30 a.m. outside and noon inside on Saturday.

Willard Snyder asked Rusyn to clarify the "village post office" option, in which a local business can apply to provide space for P.O. boxes, sort mail and sell stamps for compensation based on a contract determined between the USPS and the business owner.

She stressed this option is still available and any interested business owners should contact the post office for more information.

After the New Tripoli announcement, Rusyn was on her way to deliver similar news to residents of Cherryville and Danielsville, who also recently opted for reduced hours in order to keep their post offices open.