WILTON — As plow drivers struggle to clear away winter storms, one homeowner struggles to protect his mailbox.
It’s a problem any country dweller can relate to. Winter means snowplows. Although those plows keep our roads clear, they also demand the occasional sacrifice.
In Wilton, one man’s feud with the town’s plowing resonates with everyone who has had to balance the need for drivable roads with the frustration of damaged postal receptacles.
“This has been an ongoing battle,” said Jeffrey Le Doux, a resident of Route 133.
Le Doux said each winter storm puts his mailbox in peril.
“Usually, he takes out my mailbox,” he said. “This time, it’s only the door.”
Le Doux said both he and his neighbor had the doors knocked off their mailboxes.
Le Doux said he doesn’t know the driver’s name but can describe him and recognize his driving patterns. When the driver comes up the hill on 133, Le Doux said, he drives like a maniac. He estimated the driver’s speed was usually between 45 and 50 mph. There’s no need to drive that fast with a snowplow, Le Doux added.
Despite calling the town garage as well as the town manager, Le Doux still does not feel the problem has been resolved.
The driver should be fired, he said.
According to Le Doux, after purchasing a new mailbox last summer, someone from the town came out to tell him where he should put it. According to Le Doux, “The post office did not want it to go where the town wanted it. It was not my choice where it was to go.”
Town Manager Rhonda Irish said she was familiar with the situation. “You have to remember, it’s not the truck that’s hitting it,” Irish said, blaming the force of snow coming off the blade.
Irish said that Le Doux’s mailbox has been damaged three times in the past five years; a fact Le Doux does not dispute.
As for placing his mailbox farther from the road, Irish said, “He didn’t want to put it back farther.”
Whether it was Le Doux or the post office dictating where the mailbox went, Irish said she plans to work with the post office to see if it could be moved back a little bit farther.
“We don’t want this, and he doesn’t want this situation,” Irish said.
She suggested putting the box on chains to make the design less rigid when impacted by snow.
The plow driver in question, Irish said, has been working for the town for more than 25 years without incident.
“It has absolutely nothing to do with his plowing,” she said.
For now, Le Doux and his neighbor’s mailboxes sit open without doors, something Le Doux said the post office told him is not legal. Moving the post before spring also isn’t an option.
Feeling his services aren’t living up to the taxes he is paying, Le Doux said his next step may include taking the town to court.
“I’m tired of paying for what a jerk does,” he said.
As for his mailbox, Le Doux is prepared to defend his property.
“(Irish) isn’t going to like this,” Le Doux said, “My other option is to encase the whole thing in cement blocks.”
dmcintire@sunjournal.com
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