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QUESTION: Where I live in Kailua, there are no sidewalks, and I want to reposition my mailbox. From the U.S. Postal Service website, usps.com, I understand that the mailbox must be Postmaster General-approved, positioned 41 to 45 inches off the ground and back about 6 to 8 inches from the road. Does the Honolulu postmaster or city have additional requirements?
ANSWER: You’re on the right track with those general guidelines, said USPS spokesman Duke Gonzales.
But because there are many factors that go into determining where a mailbox should be placed, the Postal Service recommends homeowners contact their local postmasters before erecting or replacing mailboxes and their supports.
Factors include varying delivery modes, road and curb conditions and localized restrictions, Gonzales said.
If a mailbox is being mounted on a post near the street, the support should be safe and secure. "The best supports are designed to bend or fall away if a car hits them," Gonzales said.
He pointed to Federal Highway Administration recommendations: Attach a wooden mailbox support no bigger than 4 by 4 inches to a 2-inch-diameter steel or aluminum pipe. Bury your post no more than 24 inches deep, so it can give way in an accident. Don’t use potentially dangerous supports, such as heavy metal pipes or concrete posts. The mailbox must be securely attached to its post to prevent separation if struck.
Asked how someone would know whether a mailbox is approved by USPS, he said to look for the Postmaster General’s seal of approval: "US Mail approved by the Postmaster General."
If there is any question about a particular mailbox, he said to check with your local postmaster. (That means going to the post office that serves your specific community and asking to speak to the postmaster or delivery supervisor.)
You can also ask for a current listing of approved manufacturers and mailboxes by writing to Engineering, IP Delivery & Retail Systems, U.S. Postal Service, 8403 Lee Highway, Merrifield, VA 22082-8150.
As for what happens if your mailbox doesn’t meet postal requirements, Gonzales said postmasters do have the authority to stop delivery to unauthorized mailboxes.
"Before that would happen, however, the postmaster would contact the customer in question and make an effort to collaborate on a resolution," he said.
QUESTION: You reported in September 2003 that it was not true that some organization was collecting chopstick wrappers to get wheelchairs. Is there any update on that, because I’m still hearing that people are collecting the wrappers.
ANSWER: This question periodically pops up.
It was not true back then, and it’s not true today: No one is giving away wheelchairs in return for chopstick wrappers, so no organization is collecting them.
Neither is any group collecting silver foil from cigarette packs for wheelchairs or pull tabs from aluminum cans so people can have dialysis treatments. See is.gd/XQP5m8.
MAHALO
To four people who assisted my 91-year-old father after he fell in front of Aina Haina Library on Feb. 8. I am told two males and two females sacrificed their time, tended to his wounds, called for an ambulance and remained with him until it arrived. He suffered an awful fall but survived it well with just a few stitches, a nasty black eye and a badly bruised elbow. There were no broken bones.
His wife and sister were too shaken up to get the names of those who helped. We hope they read this to receive our humble thanks and to know that their sincere concern touched us deeply.
We are extremely grateful that there are still kind and caring people in this world who managed to turn a bad situation into a gesture of pure aloha. — J. Nakamura
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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
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