THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE facility in Kingsford. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo, file)

The U.S. Postal Service facility in Kingsford will retain some of its local mail processing operations rather than see them completely shifted to a regional site in Green Bay, USPS announced Friday.

In a news release, USPS stated its previous plan for the Kingsford center were no longer needed because increased efficiency through its “proposed operational strategy” would already save USPS “an additional $3 billion per year nationwide.”

“The significant savings generated by this proposed operational strategy would enable the Postal Service to absorb the cost of continuing to provide local cancellation service in Iron Mountain,” the news release states. “As a result, the Postal Service will not need to relocate certain local originating mail processing operations outside of the Iron Mountain facility. This means that mail being delivered from one address in Iron Mountain to another will not leave the region for processing. This update follows a previous USPS decision to shift all originating mail processing operations to the Green Bay P&DC, WI in 2024.”

The release later states, “In simpler terms, single piece mail that is sent from Iron Mountain to be delivered in Iron Mountain will continue to be processed at its current location.”

The extent of this latest decision on Kingsford’s future role, however, was unclear.

USPS on May 7 indicated it had green-lighted plans to switch Kingsford and several other facilities to local processing centers that would send outgoing mail to a regional processing and distribution center, or PDC, that in many cases was in another state. All outgoing mail that came to the Kingsford site would be transported to Green Bay, about 100 miles away.

That decision came despite a contentious public meeting in April in which a large crowd detailed the negative effects the changes would have — in some cases, already had — on mail service considered crucial in the rural region.

But U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy in mid-May put those plans on hold through the remainder of 2024, in response to concerns U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, then chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and a bipartisan group of 25 senators had raised about the potential effects of what was then referred to as the Delivering for America plan.

Friday’s news release still refers to Kingsford becoming a local processing center, with USPS spending $3.75 million on “expanded and streamlined package and mail processing and distribution capabilities for the facility. These funds will also be used for modernization efforts and deferred maintenance along with new workplace amenities for Postal Service employees such as new lighting and renovated bathrooms and breakrooms.”

The USPS states, “These changes will not impact business mail entry, Post Office, station and branch retail services. Once the Iron Mountain facility becomes a Local Processing Center, it is expected to handle package mailing and shipping, letters and flats. The LPC is also expected to offer express services and accept bulk and permit mail, further improving its delivery services.”

But Friday’s news release made no mention of whether this change would restore overnight delivery in the Upper Peninsula, which was lost in January 2024 when USPS cut Kingsford’s number of daily truck trips and collections, causing mail to sit overnight in local offices. That affected delivery of such vital services as prescription medicines and water testing that require a one-day turnaround, Peters said in May.

Still, Peters in a news release Friday called the USPS decision “great news for rural Michiganders who depend on USPS for delivery of essential items including financial documents, lab tests, prescriptions for veterans, and more, that are critical to the health and safety of residents.”

A call to Peters’ staff member in the Upper Peninsula for clarification on the USPS decision could not be answered by press time Friday.

This latest decision also means no “employee impacts” at the Kingsford center as had originally been anticipated, USPS said in the news release.

Michelle Yuhasey, president of American Postal Workers Union Local 1189, declined to comment on the latest USPS announcement, saying it was still being evaluated.

Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85240, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.