Congressman Fry questions Postmaster General about Longs post office delays

LONGS, S.C. (WMBF) - It’s been nearly two years since the post office in Longs was destroyed by a fire.

On Wednesday, Congressman Russell Fry confronted the Postmaster General face-to-face about why nothing has been built where the post office once stood. This comes after he received a letter from the United States Postal Service updating him about the delays.

This letter was the first major update on the new post office in months after USPS said it would rebuild the post office by early 2023, which has not even broken ground.

“We’ve reached out before with some frustrations quite frankly,” Fry said during the hearing.

In April, Fry wrote a letter to the Postmaster General demanding updates on the Longs post office which burned down in June 2021.

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Since then residents like Charlie Gardner have had to either travel to North Myrtle Beach or drop off and pick up mail at the Longs mobile site during its limited business hours.

“Two years long and well overdue,” said Gardner.

The USPS did respond to Fry’s letter nearly a month later, stating it has a lease agreement signed and are working on a construction timeline.

During Wednesday’s hearing in Washington, D.C. Fry asked if USPS has ever dealt with this type of situation before and why it’s taking them two years.

“There’s a long list of things we need to fix,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Fry said one of his biggest concerns is those in rural parts of his district being forgotten and not getting things fixed.

“Communication requires two people and if it’s just coming from our offices and not you that’s a big problem,” Fry said.

Gardner said he’s thankful to finally have some type of answers after nearly two years.

“I feel had that letter not been sent we might be waiting another year,” Gardner said.

According to the letter sent by USPS, the new facility should be a little bit larger to handle the growth of this area, which is also slowing down the start of construction.

Gardner said if it is going to be a larger facility, he hopes they are also able to fully staff the new post office once it’s completed to make sure everything moves efficiently.

The property owner, Jon Otterberg says he hopes to start construction this June and hold a ribbon cutting in 2024.

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