Residents in unincorporated parts of Douglas County may soon receive a letter in the mail about mailboxes.

Douglas County commissioners decided Wednesday to alert people with massive mailboxes about their intention to address letter holders that could be considered hazardous and their plan to hold a public hearing about the matter. The hearing date hasn’t been set.

“These mailboxes are a risk, and we want to do what’s best for the county,” said Commission Chairman Charles Jones.

Commissioners are considering a proposed resolution that would require residents with mailboxes deemed unsafe to remove them and replace them with something that follows the rules and regulations of the U.S. Postal Service and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Notices should go to about 120 people who live on paved county roads and have mailboxes considered dangerous by the county’s Public Works Department.

Public works director Keith Browning said staff members inventoried the mailboxes on the paved roads because those roads had more traffic and higher speed limits than gravel roads. But mailboxes on gravel roads also will be inventoried in the future.

Commissioner Bob Jones said notifying the people could make the meeting regarding mailboxes tougher.

“But in all fairness it’s probably the better way to do it,” Johnson said.

The proposed resolution also would require newly installed mailboxes to follow the same requirements.

Based on the resolution, certain materials are deemed unsafe for use in supports, such as concrete, masonry and/or solid stone; steel stronger than a standard steel pipe measuring 2 inches in diameter; or any material measuring more than 6 inches in diameter.

Commissioners also reviewed the county’s snow and ice removal manual, which had some change in terms of how the county would address mailboxes damaged while road crews remove snow and ice.

Letter from Douglas County Mailbox resolution, page 1 Mailbox resolution, page 2 Mailbox resolution, page 3 Mailbox resolution, page 4

The county will cover the cost if county equipment or snow and ice hits and destroys a mailbox. In the past, the county only would repair the mailbox if county equipment had caused the damage.

However, in both cases the new mailbox would have to meet standards of the U.S. Postal Service.

“This is more of an effort to control the mailboxes going in,” Browning said. “It’s a road safety issue.”

The cost to repair a mailbox, generally, is about $28.