The bad news is I may not be getting mail for a while.
The good news is it appears as though Robbinsville will be getting another chance to secure its own, independent zip code.
The township has been notified by the United States Postal Service that it intends to conduct a new survey of Robbinsville residents to gauge their interest in the zip code — Robbinsville 08691 — a request that was rejected last summer despite the fact roughly 96 percent of residents who returned surveys voted for the change.
We do not yet know when the new surveys will be mailed to households, and as of press time we have very few other details.
The USPS denied Robbinsville’s initial request due to its claim that we failed to meet the required response rate, which was seemingly arbitrary, excessive and well above their stated policy of a simple majority.
In a letter we received on Aug. 31, USPS Manager of Rural Delivery James J. Boldt wrote that the USPS “envisions conducting a new survey of Robbinsville residents using the criteria outlined in the management instruction, provided mutual agreement between the Postal Service and Robbinsville Township is reached.”
Many of the questions we have received since announcing the news on Sept. 11 have been regarding residents not receiving surveys during the first round. The USPS did not allow us to house extra surveys at our municipal building then, but we will be requesting that service again. Just like last year, we will be designating at least one phone number and an email address for residents to reach out in order to let us know if they did not receive a survey.
Needless to say, this is a pretty big win.
Business administrator Joy Tozzi has been fighting this battle for the better part of seven years, and the efforts put forth by Paul Renaud and our legal team, along with the office of Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo, especially his chief of staff Elizabeth Meyers, our communications team for getting the word out and additional help from Congressman Chris Smith, have been instrumental in putting us in a position to fight another day.
All we asked for from the very beginning of this process was to be treated fairly and in accordance with USPS policies. This is not just about the mail. Delivery trucks using Robbinsville 08691 on GPS are often guided into Trenton and away from their target destination, while car insurance rates have come in significantly higher when Trenton 08691 is plugged into an insurance broker’s data base.
Dave Fried is the mayor of Robbinsville Township.
