May 12, 2025 By Mike Jones 4 min read

Frustration is growing for Marianna area residents nearly nine months after unsafe working conditions closed their post office – forcing them to travel to Clarksville for their mail – and there are few answers from the U.S. Postal Service about when a new location will open up.

Since the closure in August, the postal service has been searching for a new site to house mail delivery for people living in the 15345 ZIP code that includes Marianna and parts of West Bethlehem Township, but bureaucratic red tape and ongoing feasibility studies for a new location have slowed that process.

All services at the former post office at 1742 Main St. were suspended Aug. 16 after the building was deemed unsafe due to apparent water leaks and mold. Since then, people living in the area have been required to go to the U.S. Post Office nearly seven miles away to retrieve their mail.

Tom Donahoo, who is chairman of the West Bethlehem Township board of supervisors, said officials have been told the entire search process could take at least 18 months, but they feel like they’re in “limbo” since few details have been shared with them.

“Every time I see someone, they ask me when the post office is coming back and I tell them I don’t know,” Donahoo said. “The older people have trouble getting (to Clarksville) because it’s a ways off. … Other than that, I can’t tell you more, because they don’t keep us informed.”

Marianna Borough Council President Jeremy Berardinelli said the postal service held a community meeting last year following the closure, and then met with local officials in February explaining the process in selecting a new site. He said postal officials initially reviewed seven sites and appeared to have settled on two possible locations – either placing a mobile unit in the mine yard in the borough or taking over the former Northwest Bank building most recently used as a butcher shop – but has to perform a lengthy cost analysis and feasibility study to determine which one is more suitable.

Berardinelli said the residents were afforded a 45-day comment period in March and April to offer suggestions on a new post office. But he said officials have been told it could be another nine months to a year before they have a post office in town again.

“The residents just want to get this over with and we’re hoping to expedite this as fast as we can,” Berardinelli said.

According to an email sent to local, state and federal officials Thursday morning from Sarah Youngdahl, who serves as Congressman Guy Reschenthaler’s district director, the postal service is hoping to have an update on the situation next month.

“For Marianna, potential sites are still being reviewed,” Youngdahl’s email states, citing information sent directly from the postal service. “Our facilities staff expects to have an update on those evaluations in about 45 days.”

A spokesman for the U.S Postal Service in Pittsburgh did not have an update on the situation when contacted by email Thursday.

While some residents have rural delivery, most must make the drive to Clarksville to retrieve their mail. Although that situation isn’t ideal, Berardinelli was complimentary of the staff at that post office for being helpful and gracious with Marianna and West Bethlehem residents despite the difficult circumstances.

“I think (the residents) are most frustrated with the drive. We have a lot of elderly residents and it’s hard to get down there,” Berardinelli said. “But I do want to state that the workers at the Clarksville Post Office are great. They’re going above and beyond to make this work. They have been fantastic. They have been doing the best job they can to accommodate us. They’re making the best of a bad situation.”