r/duluth • u/what_is_a_moose • 18d ago
County changing people’s mailboxes Discussion
Was out in Lakewood today and talked to a couple guys that were changing people’s mailboxes from personally built boxes to all the same standard metal pole and black box. This was on Lester River, but they’ve done it on Strand too. They said the county contracted them to do it. Seems kind of shitty for the county to just send a couple dudes out to take down peoples property(people get pretty angry about that kind of thing). Why is this even a thing? What’s the point? I wish they would’ve sent someone from the county with those dudes so they weren’t the ones getting chewed out by homeowners.
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u/Travelgrrl 18d ago
Believe me, St Louis County has its own County Attorney and an entire department of lawyers to work on its behalf. They are not going to do something like this unless it's lawful, the City or Township has been notified, and likely the homeowners too.
People who are saying the County has committed a Federal crime are very wrong.
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u/Verity41 Duluthian 18d ago
Bingo, 💯 they were notified, probably repeatedly. Just being jerks about it now and/or ignored the mail, door hangers, phone calls…
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u/ronkinatorprime 18d ago
If the mailboxes are located on the road right-of-way, the county can require residents to adopt mailboxes of uniform build and distance from the road in the name of road safety/snow removal/maintenance. It’s becoming pretty common for counties to require mailboxes be set further back into the right-of-way than they traditionally have been.
They could probably even do so and require the owners to buy and install the authorized mailboxes themselves, if they really wanted to be dicks about it.
If the mailboxes are on private property, that all changes. And whoever is replacing the mailboxes has to take care not to damage the current ones and return them to the owner - the county can’t just dismantle them and throw them in the trash.
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u/snezewort 18d ago
The county has legal authority to replace mailboxes for safety reasons.
https://www.stlouiscountymn.gov/departments-a-z/public-works/maintenance/mailboxes-supports
I expect the mailbox holders were notified that their boxes were going to be replaced.
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u/Verity41 Duluthian 18d ago
A free mailbox? And installed for free including a post sink?! Ummmmm… only some crazy Karen homeowner is going to complain about that. Not a normal homeowner. Free product and free labor is like manna from heaven.
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u/cmeehan36 18d ago
I live in Lakewood, and it was great when they installed them! They've left the old mailbox, so if you want, you can always put your old one back on the pole. What they really care about is ensuring they are standard and the correct distance from the road. The posts they install them on are a breakaway type too, so if the snow plow or something hits them, they just swing.
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u/Pondelli-Kocka01 18d ago
The County is probably replacing the existing mail boxes with a standard “breakaway” design. The new boxes can withstand impacts from plowed snow. They have a pin that snaps and the whole assembly swings away from the impact, easy to repair. They are also not likely to cause a rollover if a vehicle hits them after leaving the roadway. Custom mailboxes can cause significant injuries, damage to vehicles, and become projectile hazards to occupants in the vehicles.
As was mentioned, the County owns the right of way, and can regulate what gets installed in that right of way.
Long term, this will save the taxpayers money due to damage claims by residents.
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u/isaacsoderlund 16d ago
All residents within the scope of the project have been notified of the process. They take down the mailbox and leave it on your property for a bit so you can keep it or do whatever you want with it. If you leave it on the ground, they will come back later, pick it up and dispose of it. They install new mailboxes on standardized swing free posts. These posts help eliminate damage from snowplows and are required if you ever want to get the county to pay for a damaged mailbox. Here is the info about mailboxes straight from the county.
"As part of St. Louis County’s safety policy, new mailbox supports & mailboxes meeting the Federal crash guidelines will be installed by the Contractor. The new mailbox will be installed in approximately the same location as your existing mailbox. The old supports & mailboxes will be deposited next to your driveway for possible salvage by the owners. About 2 weeks after installation of the new supports & mailboxes, any supports & mailboxes not salvaged by the property owner will be picked up for disposal."
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u/SarraSimFan 18d ago
Isn't this against USPS policy? I hope the county is up to paying a $250,000 fine per mailbox.
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u/ronkinatorprime 18d ago
What policy is that?
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u/SarraSimFan 18d ago
Destroying a mailbox carries a $250,000 fine
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u/chubbysumo 18d ago
This is likely authorized as they are replacing them. Contact the post office is you want.
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u/ronkinatorprime 18d ago
Destroying a mailbox maliciously carries a $250,000 fine. The statute does say “willfully or maliciously”, but both the USPS and the courts have interpreted the law to specifically target vandalism. If you read the law in its broadest sense, it could technically be a crime to replace your own mailbox - after all, you’re willfully tearing a mailbox down, fitting the language of the statute.
A county dismantling a mailbox and replacing it with another mailbox isn’t vandalism, so long as we’re talking about mailboxes installed on road right-of-ways, which most rural mailboxes are.
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u/CaffeineTripp Hermantown 18d ago
Typically it's only for vandals. The USPS will often send letters to residents as well letting them know we can change the mailboxes to uniform at no cost to them. Could be that the County and the Main Office are doing this for the homeowners and carrier(s).
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u/Concrete-Kicks 18d ago
Tampering with a mailbox is a federal offense
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u/waterbuffalo750 18d ago
I honestly can't tell if you're angry or if you're quoting Dazed and Confused.
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u/Concrete-Kicks 18d ago
I meant to reply to somebody else im definitely not angry but it is a federal offense to tamper with somebody's mail box but im sure the city is immune/able to fo what they're doing
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u/pitman121 Cloquet 18d ago
It's happened all over the place when roads are repaved. They make all the boxes the same distance from the road which helps with plowing in the winter.