The Town of Bentley is fighting to keep their post office open for parcel drop off and pick-up, after it was announced that the Bentley IDA could no longer afford to house their services after 15 years of doing so.

Bentley Mayor Greg Rathjen says he met with representatives from the post office on Tuesday morning, and they hope to work out a way to keep parcel delivery in town. 

“There really isn’t any business in town that can afford to operate at a loss…they’re may be some changes, Canada Post hours or something, we’re having a good look at some possible solutions, but at least we’re talking and working at it…we’re going to keep in touch and communicate with our community… the communication of what was happening was not really forthcoming as Canada Post would normally do and so we are going to correct a few mistakes, nobody did it on purpose, but we are going to correct a few things to people are in the know.”

Rathjen hopes they come up with a solution before Friday, the scheduled date for the end of parcel pick up and drop off at the Bentley IDA.

If it does close, residents can still pick up their regular mail in town, but any parcels would have to be picked up in Lacombe, Sylvan Lake or Rimbey.

Roughly 100 residents from the town of about 1100 showed up on Main Street Monday (May 28th) to protest the closure, which they only became aware of two weeks ago.

 Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins issued a statement yesterday throwing his support behind the people of Bentley, saying the situation is "ludicrous" and violates the Canadian Postal Service Charter.

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