Some Pinehurst residents and business owners are pushing the Village Council to enter the fray over efforts to improve services at the downtown post office.

Four speakers aired their grievances Tuesday at the end of the council's work session. They called the post office the epicenter of the community and said adequate hours of operation and efficient service were vital to the survival of the village's businesses.

"I believe for far too long the residents and the postal patrons of the village of Pinehurst have not gotten the service that they have been paying for through the years," business owner Richard Shearer said.

Resident Cliff Aikems said that the issue goes beyond the post office itself. He argued that limited hours affect not only economic activity, but also the overall ambience of the village.

"It's a social meeting place," Aikems said, "and is very important to the character of downtown Pinehurst. And it affects other businesses."

Patrick Barry, president of the Pinehurst Business Guild, suggested that the Postal Service consider longer hours, more staffing during peak hours and overall improvement of the physical condition of the building.

"We are hoping that this hearing will help the citizens of Pinehurst and business owners better understand why things are the way they are," he said. "Furthermore, questioning some of these policies may help down the road in making some much-needed changes to the post office."

Tom Stewart, a business and property owner, said he was surprised that the council wasn't a little more upset when the post office announced in February that it would reduce the hours of operation.

"Somehow the hours of 10:30 to 1:30 were acceptable to people," he said, adding that the village has spent a great deal of money on long-range planning, NewCore and other improvements. "And here is literally the heartbeat of the village that is slowly being taken away from us, and there wasn't a little more uproar in terms of what it means to the community.

"It's not just an inconvenience to residents. But it's an important part of the growth of the village."

Council members declined to comment on the matter during the hearing, except for Jeff Dawson, who reminded Shearer that the council does not have a position on the lack of home mail delivery in the village core when he questioned the council about it.

"The village has no position one way or the other on delivery downtown," Dawson said.

The operational hours and service level at the downtown post office have been a hot topic around the village in recent weeks.

In February, Postmaster Denise Krise announced a reduction in window hours effective March 16, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., citing a decrease in volume.

Many residents and merchants opposed the change. Some 900 people signed a petition demanding an increase in window hours. A group of business owners enlisted Rep. Howard Coble to contact the Postal Service.

The Postal Service eventually relented, recently announcing that the hours would be returned back to 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

But some business owners and residents are pushing for the hours to be extended to at least 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and that additional staff be added to mitigate the long lines that are common during peak hours. Shearer asked the council to intervene on behalf of the residents and business owners.

"Rather than anybody considering taking a victory lap after the one hour that they've given back to us," he said, "I would ask the council to investigate why these postal procedures exist to this day. We would ask for your intercession to have some of these questions asked of the Postal Service."

Stewart agreed.

"I think as representatives of the village, which you are, I think it's important to take a stand, at least weigh in and do what we can," he said.

The council is not expected to intervene or take any further action on this issue. When reached by phone Wednesday, Mayor George Lane instead encouraged concerned residents and business owners to contact the postmaster.

Contact John Krahnert III at 693-2473 or by e-mail at jkrahnert@thepilot.com.