Plans to transfer about a dozen mail carriers from a post office in Millvale to one in Ross should not affect either local mail delivery or window services.

That was the message repeated several times by representatives of the United States Postal Service at a meeting called by Allegheny County Councilman Jim Burn to discuss the issue.

"We are not closing the retail facility in Millvale," Cherie A. Gisoni told the crowd of about 25 people who met in the borough council chambers March 4. Residents will continue to be able to buy stamps, send registered and certified mail, ship packages, have their mail held and rent post boxes, she said. Ms. Gisoni is operations manager for the postal service, working out of its North Side bulk mail handling center.

While mail routes will be reconfigured to reflect starting points in Ross, most customers should not see big changes in delivery times, she said.

Many residents and public officials did not appear to be persuaded. They complained that their community had been a victim of both natural disasters and poor government policy.

Millvale was hit hard by flood waters following Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and struck again by flash floods in 2007.

"We recently got seven new businesses to move in, and now it seems like we are being betrayed by the federal government," Mayor Vincent Cinski said of the plan to move the carriers.

Ms. Gisoni predicted that post office customers would not be aware of any change in services after the carriers begin reporting to work at the McKnight Road post office.

The transfer of carriers from the Millvale office on Lincoln Avenue to the Ross location about three miles away will occur in late May or early June, she said.

Mr. Burn, a former mayor of Millvale, asked that the postal service delay moving any workers until the U.S. Congress schedules and completes broader hearings on the future of the mail delivery agency.

Postmaster General John E. Potter warned recently that the postal service was facing continuing declines in the amount of mail it handles and accompanying multi-billion-dollar declines in revenue.

Among other options, the agency is considering an end to Saturday mail deliveries as a way to reduce costs.

Ms. Gisoni said a delay in transferring the carriers was unlikely.

The postal service, which does not receive federal subsidies, must provide universal service and keep delivery rates as low as possible, she said. To achieve both those goals, it regularly makes changes in its operations to improve efficiencies, she said.

The postal service plan calls for relocating the carriers and eliminating the job of one manager. The number of clerks at the Millvale office will be trimmed from three to two.

If case of illness or vacations, the postal service will get temporary help from other branches, Ms. Gisoni said.

"This is a recipe for failure," state Rep. Dom Costa, D-Stanton Heights, warned.

"This is a de-facto closure," Mr. Burn said.

"With the carriers gone, the post office may decide that the current building is too big," Millvale Manager Virginia Pucci said. "Then two months from now, they will close down completely."

Millvale's situation is not unusual, Ms. Gisoni said. Carriers at many smaller post offices in the Pittsburgh area have been transferred to larger depots over the years.

The retail operations left behind have continued to thrive, she said.

Neville Island, Bellevue, Homewood, Bloomfield, Squirrel Hill, Arsenal and Carnegie are among the many communities and city neighborhoods where the postal service continues to provide full retail service long after carriers left, she said.

Many speakers at the meeting emphasized the importance of having a post office within walking distance for the borough's many elderly residents and for those who do not drive. Others described the post office as an informal social center.

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