The Central Illinois District Area 3 Post Plan team is announcing three area post offices will remain open, but employees will experience pay cuts in order to keep them open.

Aroma Park, Reddick and Buckingham will not stop services or permanently close. Postal employees, however, will have their pay decreased.

Postmasters from Herscher, St. Anne, Bradley and Kankakee made the announcements at community meetings held in all three locations Wednesday. 

In Aroma Park about 80 people — mostly elderly — attended the noon meeting, which had to be held in the fire station across the street from the post office because of the large turnout. 

The Aroma Park Post Office currently is open six hours per day, five days per week; and also for a few hours on Saturday morning. The office will remain on a similar schedule, but the postmaster, Irene Littrell, will have less time to open and close the office as she will begin working 6 1/2 hour work days.

The hours of operation are also expected to change. On weekdays the office is currently open from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Under the new plan the office would be open from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m.

Reddick and Buckingham post offices will remain open for four hours each weekday. But instead of working eight hour days, each office will work 4 hour and 20 minute days, cutting the time they have to open and close the office.. 

The post offices will be reviewed each year, and if revenue increases, there is a chance that the postmasters could start working 8-hour days again. But if revenues continue to decrease, Aroma Park could be cut to a 4-hour office and Reddick and Buckingham could be cut to 2-hour offices. 

Hour-cutting programs across the country are expected to save the postal service half a billion dollars by 2014.

94.1 FM, WGFA