Norwich — The U.S. Postal Service did not properly consider public input or cost savings when it decided to close the Yantic Post Office, and may have exaggerated alleged health and safety issues when deciding to suspend the small village post office in February 2012, an official at the Postal Regulatory Commission reported.

The commission, an independent regulatory agency that oversees the U.S. Postal Service, is examining the Postal Service’s decision to close the Yantic Post Office in response to a Feb. 17 appeal letter by Mayor Deberey Hinchey and state Rep. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville.

In a strongly worded, seven-page “Reply Comments of the Public Representative” release Tuesday, Elisabeth S. Shellan wrote that the Postal Service’s determination to close the Yantic office “was not performed in accordance with Title 39” of postal regulations and may have been pre-determined when the building initially was ordered shuttered due to alleged safety concerns.

“The Postal Service did not properly solicit and consider meaningful community input,” Shellan wrote. And finally, “the Postal Service has not justified its savings from the closing of the Yantic Post Office.”

Shellan’s report, filed at 6 p.m. Monday, was received by the Postal Regulatory Commission Tuesday. The commission is scheduled to vote on the appeal of the Yantic Post Office closure on June 17, a spokesman for the regulatory agency said Tuesday.

The Yantic Post Office closed suddenly at the end of business hours on Feb. 6, 2012. Customers arriving the next morning found notices in the windows and on the door stating that the building would be closed indefinitely for safety and security reasons. All 230 post office boxes were transferred to the Bozrah Post Office, 1.2 miles away, and the lone employee in Yantic was transferred to Bozrah.

About 60 people attended a public meeting the following November and protested the closure, citing the inconvenient drive and the limited hours of the Bozrah Post Office. City officials also objected, because the Yantic facility was the main post office serving the Stanley Israelite Business Park.

The Postal Service made a final closure determination Jan. 26 of this year.

“This closure, although temporary up to this point, has left a gap in the postal service that our Business Park and residents have utilized,” Hinchey and Ryan wrote in their appeal. “The Yantic Post Office for the last 2.5 years of operation showed a revenue tread of $771,400 and employed one person. But, more importantly it was a dominant and integral part of the fabric of the Yantic Village.”

Hinchey and Ryan pledged to work with Postal Service officials to resolve any safety concerns at the building or seek an alternative building.

“We ask for an appeal to this decision and anticipate a continued working relationship with the United States Postal Service,” the two officials wrote. “Your building and services is important to us.”

Shellan offered strong objections to the Postal Service’s claim that it adequately considered public comment. She also called into question that the Postal Service’s alternative plan was adequate. The Postal Service first moved Yantic’s service to Bozrah and extended the hours of the Bozrah Post Office. But later, the Postal Service shifted administration of the Bozrah Post Office to Norwich’s Main Street Post Office and listed Bozrah for possible reduction in hours.

“The Postal Service’s failure to provide substantive responses to many of its customers’ comments is evidence that the Postal Service had no intention of considering customer input for the purpose of determining if the closure of the Yantic Post Office was appropriate,” Shellan wrote.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who worked with Hinchey to prevent closure of Norwich's Main Street Post Office a year ago, welcomed Shellan's recommendation that the commission remand the closure decision.

"I look forward to reinforcing the findings of the Public Representative to the Postal Regulatory Commission," Courtney said in a statement, "and working to find a solution to ensure Yantic businesses and residents have needed access to postal services.”

c.bessette@theday.com

Twitter: @Bessettetheday