Mail-delivery problem lingers in Livermore

LIVERMORE -- Five months after the U.S. Postal Service discovered it had never listed addresses for Melanie Way in Livermore in its computer system, the problem is proving hard to stamp out.

Some residents still get their mail only sporadically and have to make lengthy detours to pick up mail at streets with similar names. Residents recently met with Postal Service officials, hoping to address the issue.

``But we're still telling everyone to send things to our post office box,'' said Nick Flint, a Melanie Way resident who nearly lost his phone service because late phone bill delivery meant late payments. ``I work at home, and not having a phone is a big problem.''

To get the mail delivered, the post office wants to make sure Melanie Way addresses are properly read by post office computers and addressed by bulk-mailing billing companies and utility companies.

``It's been one of those sticky computer problems that has persisted over time,'' said Bil Paul, a Postal Service spokesman in San Francisco. ``But the bills that count, and the personal mail -- that should be getting through now.''

The problem on Melanie Way, Paul said, was that its name was not in the post office's main database when tract homes opened up last spring. The post office's ``best match'' computer software that reads addresses didn't recognize letters that had Melanie Way addresses. That mail often was diverted to similar address numbers on Milan Court, a short block on Livermore's southwest side about three miles from Melanie Way.

Melanie Way is two blocks long, off Vasco Road west of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Postal carriers, developers and city or county planning agencies typically report new streets and addresses for postal computers, usually far in advance of people moving in, Paul said.

First Created February 7, 1999