Jun 19, 2015 5 min read

CECIL – The Muse Post Office building was officially taken by Canon-McMillan School District through eminent domain, leaving residents to speculate how their mail service will continue.

After a plea on social media sites to “unite,” Muse residents attended the Cecil Township Planning Commission meeting Thursday to express ire over the school district’s plans for the new Muse Elementary School, including the taking of the post office and portions of two neighboring properties.

J. Greer Hayden of HHSDR Architects, handling design aspects of the project, outlined the state-of-the art facility, which at 108,000 square feet will be large enough to house about 800 students, allowing for district growth and full-time kindergarten, which is not currently offered.

Current Muse, Cecil and First Street elementary schools students will use the new facility. All schools will remain open until the new building is ready for the 2017-18 school year.

Hayden said construction vehicles will have temporary access from Oak Street and will not be permitted to run during school start and end times to avoid traffic issues. About 15 buses will travel to and from the school during the week.

Included in the design are 35 classrooms spread over two stories, a library, cafeteria and a multipurpose gymnasium.

In order to provide better access along School Street, the district plans to tear down the post office. They offered the United States Postal Service continued use of the building for as long as a year.

When asked about the future of the Muse post office, Tad Kelley, corporate communications spokesman for the postal service, emailed the following response.

“USPS has a leasehold interest in the Muse Post Office building through 2020 and plans to continue postal operations there.”

Muse residents receive mail in post office boxes. About 315 of 514 boxes at the post office are rented. There is no delivery from the facility, which also offers counter service for postal products.

While most residents agreed a new elementary school is a necessity, many said there were too many unresolved issues, including increased traffic of buses and construction vehicles over roads and alleys that already are in poor condition.

There also were many complaints the school district had not been transparent in its planning.

Genevieve Miller said at a meeting in February, she was told she would be notified by the district before it attempted to take her property.

“I was promised another meeting I did not get,” she said.

Miller, who owns a duplex at 137-139 Locust St., received a declaration of taking Friday from the school district for a 12-foot strip of her property for the widening of School Street. She was offered $1,800, which she refused.

After Miller made her concerns known at a Cecil Township meeting June 2, Superintendent Michael Daniels came to her home to talk with her, and the district put out a statement the next day saying it “will return an approximate 6-foot portion of that strip, seed it, replace the landscaping and fence it at no cost to the property owner.”

But Miller said the amount offered to her is not fair. She also said she’s worried about her safety and that of her husband, who has Alzheimer’s disease and wanders from the house at times. The proximity to the road led her house and fence to be hit, and she worries the road widening will lead to more accidents.

“What about my safety?” she asked Thursday. “Please don’t cheat me. Please don’t steal it from me. I should be treated with more respect.”

Miller plans to fight the property acquisition during her 30-day objection period.

“I know you can’t fight everybody, but I will do whatever I can do,” she said.

The planning commission approved the elementary school plan, meaning the panel will recommend approval by the board of supervisors, subject to the district settling 19 matters pointed out by the township’s engineer, including storm water management, landscaping and temporary construction access.

Member Eric Sivavec was the only one to vote against the plan, saying there were many issues to address before presenting the proposal to the supervisors, who meet July 6.

“Eventually, development is going to happen,” said planning commission Chairman Walter Krasneski. “We can’t stop something just because we don’t want it.”

Krasneski said the commission was required by law to approve plans as long as they follow township code and as long as the commission’s concerns are addressed.

Paul Scarmazzi, Canon-McMillan school board president, said he did not want to comment on the post office until he knew more about discussion at the planning commission meeting. He did say he is proud of plans for the new elementary school and believes it will be a tremendous asset to the Muse community. He said the district was “not trying to be a big bully” and the post office had to be taken in order to provide safer access to the school.

Daniels was not available to comment Friday. A call left for Assistant Superintendent Scott Chambers was not returned.