By By MaryClaire Foster
Whether a service is being performed at a house or its something as ordinary as daily mail delivery, having the correct address of a residence is crucial to getting the job done.
Just as important as having the correct address is having the address visibly posted. These two issues are what brought city and county officials together Monday afternoon at City Hall to discuss a plan of action.
Atmore Mayor Howard Shell said the issue had been discussed before, but a recent meeting with Utility Board Director Tom Wolfe brought the issue back into the limelight.
Shell said there are problems in the city not only with houses not being numbered, but also having odd and even addresses on the same side of the street.
Not having houses properly numbered causes problems with mail delivery, utility service and most importantly, limits the capabilities of emergency responders.
Janie Hamric, a representative with E-911, spoke of the difficulties emergency responders face when trying to get to a scene.
Hamric went on to say the importance of the numbers often sinks in after they were already needed.
Hamric said they receive as much help as can be given from the Atmore Post Office in the way of stopping mail when a residence is not properly identified, but it is not an absolute fix.
During the meeting, the matter of passing a city ordinance to enforce residents to properly identify their residences was discussed, but Mayor Howard Shell expressed his aversion to the idea. Shell said he would prefer to try other means to encourage people rather than forcing an ordinance on them.
Atmore Postmaster Lester Cogollo said it is a law stated in the Domestic Mail Manual, which the Post Office can enforce by not delivering mail, that all mailboxes be numbered with no less than one-inch numbers, but due to not all residences having mailbox delivery it does not always help.
The City of Brewton had the same issue and sold reflective address identifiers through the fire department and it was discussed as a possibility for Atmore.
Adams also said that in another city when an ordinance was passed it was stipulated that the numbers be readily visible from the road, but left up to the homeowner to decide in what way to display it.
Shell said all ideas would be taken into consideration and in the meantime would count on the post office and utilities board to require the proper posting of the addresses for service.
The group will meet again in a month to discuss progress and more possible avenues.