Sparta Asks Residents: Is Your Mailbox Ready For The Snow?

Press release from Sparta Township:

December 8 2020

Sparta Dept. Public Works

With the upcoming snow season, your mailbox may need one or more of the following repairs prior to the snow season – please review the following list, USPS mailbox standards, and have your mailbox secured to help prevent damages by the snow/ice coming off the plows. Thank you in advance for your cooperation; this will help keep damages to a minimum.

Common Problems
Suggested Solutions

Face of box is not 6-8” inches behind curb
Needs to be re-set correctly

Box not secure to post
Re-secure box more firmly to post

Post appears weak or rotted
Replace post

Iron Post has too narrow base and can be brittle and break when cold
Replace post with more durable materials for the colder weather, ie 2” steel pipe or wooden 4×4 post

Plastic gets brittle and breaks in cold
Replace with more durable material for
weather colder weather

Post leaning and will fall over when snow/ice hit it coming off plow
Re-set post firmly

Please help keep your mailboxes up and in good order by following the suggested solutions to the problems indicated. We don’t want your mailbox to come down during a snow event however we’ve found over the years the above situations cause almost all the problems with mailboxes during the winter season. If you have any questions, please give the DPW a call at (973) 729-6178, Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Download the Revised 2018 Mailbox Guidelines and Tips here

This press release was produced by Sparta Township. The views expressed here are the author’s own.