DC Highway Department adopts mailbox policy
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MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Highway Department now has a formal written policy about replacing mailboxes that have been hit by a snowplow.
The highway department always had a verbal policy, but it was never written down, said Dustin Binder, Dunn County Highway Commissioner, at the December 14 meeting of the highway committee.
The policy he was proposing for the highway committee to approve is the same policy used by about 90 percent of the counties in Wisconsin, Binder said.
For any mailbox in the road right-of-way, if a snowplow physically hits the mailbox, the highway department will replace or repair the mailbox with a standard metal mail box and a four-by-four post, which is the method of installation approved by the U.S. Postal Service, Binder said.
The highway department will not replace any decorative or non-standard mailboxes with the same kind of mailbox, he said.
If snow or ice coming off the snowplow destroys the mailbox, the highway department will not replace the mailbox. The mailbox will only be replaced if it is struck by the snowplow, Binder said.
When a mailbox has been hit by a snowplow, it is very evident that the snowplow caused the damage and not snow or ice coming off the plow because the mailbox will be in the ditch, completely crumpled, he said.
Complaints
The highway department receives many complaints about mailbox damage, and people will say the snowplow driver deliberately hit the mailbox, Binder said.
Dunn County snowplow drivers do not intend to hit and destroy mailboxes, and they receive training on how to avoid mailboxes, he said.
If the mailboxes are installed correctly according to U.S. Postal Service standards, the wing can go right under the mailbox and not cause any damage, Binder said.
Brian Johnson, county board supervisor from Colfax and chair of the highway committee, said that in the past, he has received a number of complaints from a local resident about mailbox damage, and that the person said the driver had caused the damage because “he doesn’t like me.”
Johnson said he eventually informed the man that he should apply for a snowplow driver position at the highway department so he could show the other drivers the proper way to plow snow.
Post or pipe
The postal service approves four-by-four posts or two-inch pipe for installing mailboxes, Binder said.
Filling an old milk can with concrete is not an approved method for mailbox installation, he noted.
The Dunn County Highway Committee unanimously approved the mailbox replacement policy for the highway department.
The mailbox policy is posted on the Dunn County Highway Department’s website.
Visit www.co.dunn.wi.us. In the “department” menu at the top of the page, the highway department link is on the right side.
Look for the mailbox link on the right-hand side of the highway department’s webpage.
Policy
Here are some of the provisions included in the policy:
• Mailboxes are to be installed within the highway right-of-way per the United States Postal Service guidelines.
• Mailboxes shall be installed with a 4” by 4” wooden post or a 2” diameter standard steel post two feet back from the edge of the existing shoulder of the roadway.
• The box shall be located 41 to 45 inches above the grade of the shoulder with the front of the box, when opened, not extending onto the back of the shoulder of the road.
• In area where there is curb and gutter, the front of the mailbox shall be placed at a height of 41 to 45 inches above the surface of the road and six to eight inches behind the front face of the curb.
• The mailbox and post shall be maintained accordingly and able to withstand the force of flying snow and slush from traffic and snow removal operations.
• Dunn County operators are trained to take precautions around mailboxes during plowing operations, and it is not the intent to damage an individual’s property.
• All mailbox damage claims from highway department operations will be reviewed by highway department management staff.
• If a mailbox or receptacle base is damaged by flying snow, slush and ice, or is not placed at the proper distance and height from a roadway, it will not be repaired or replaced by the highway department.
• If a mailbox is hit and damaged by highway department equipment by physical contact and cannot be fixed, it will be replaced with a standard metal box acceptable to the U.S. Postal Service. Decorative or other types of ornamental mailboxes will not be replaced in kind.
