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WEST POINT - The post office in West Point will close its doors in October.

Roger Walker, Madison Township trustee, received a fax on Friday from Donald Marshall, United States Postal Service district manager, stating the postal service will be under emergency suspension effective Oct. 1.

According to Walker, this is the first official notice they have received that said the post office would close.

"They're closing, the people will have to get their mail in Lisbon now," Walker said. "It's a shame."

Marshall stated in his letter to the trustees that the expiration of the Sept. 30 lease coupled with the "inability to negotiate repairs to the existing facility" caused the West Point post office to enter the emergency supervision stage.

Walker said the post office has heating and water problems.

Mail will be available at the Lisbon Post Office on Dickey Drive. The post office is approximately seven miles away from West Point.

West Point residents who use a P.O. Box should change their mailing addresses or start rural delivery, Marshall said in his letter to the trustees.

Marshall also said an informational town meeting will be held at a later date.

Questions about the future of the post office were addressed at the last several township meetings. Recently, on Tuesday, the trustees still said they had not heard any concrete facts about the closing, only showing documentation about the expiring lease.

A petition was started in the community to help get the word out about the closing and to show the residents' need for a local post office.

Some residents also indicated that they could establish a community post office in a different location when the current office closes. But Tom Russell, manager of the United States Postal Service Eastern Facilities Service Office, stated that a 700 square foot building is needed, which has yet to be found in the town.

Walker said he already noticed people taking their mail out of the P.O. boxes and disabling the services.