Elderly neighbors grapple with mail issues in McCormick

McCORMICK, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - People who live in Savannah Lakes Village in McCormick County say their neighborhood mail system is a mess.

Some of them are older and have a tough time getting around. They are conflicted about how to get their mail without driving into town.

We sat down with neighbors to break down some of their confusion.

When Gerry Goldstein moved into the neighborhood, mail delivery was his last thought.

“With a mailbox at the end of the driveway. Who would ever think when there are mailboxes all over, and you’re paying for a mailbox, that you wouldn’t get delivered to your mailbox,” he said.

Instead, he received this notice from the postmaster to move his mailbox into a cluster box unit or a group mailbox.

Dale Farnsworth is another resident. He said, “You have residents who have to walk up to 300 feet length of a football field, up a hill. It’s raised pavement, okay, so there’s a stumbling hazard associated with every time they go to the mailbox.”

But even with a cluster box, Barbara Schonderlmaier says the mail isn’t getting to everyone.

“I checked with everyone on my street and they were not getting mail. The two houses on Kirsten that are in that same clump of mailboxes are getting mail,” she said.

Farnsworth says it’s not that simple to build one.

“The lots are privately owned and the roads belong to the county so who’s supposed to install the cbu [cluster box unit]? We have no way to do it,” he said.

They have reached out to the post office, the district, and the postmaster but say they aren’t getting anywhere.

Schonderlmaier added, “I feel like we’re being held hostage by the post office. They’re just refusing to listen to anything.”

We reached out to McCormick’s postmaster for a comment. We’re waiting to hear back.

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