Survey ignites ZIP code feud

A letter from the U.S. Postal Service asking people in nearly 1,400 residences in and near Muscle Shoals about their interest in having a Muscle Shoals mailing address has officials in Tuscumbia and Leighton agitated.

The letter states the city of Muscle Shoals asked the postal service to modify its ZIP code boundaries - a move that could change some Tuscumbia and Leighton mailing addresses and ZIP codes to Muscle Shoals addresses and ZIP codes.

It states the service is surveying customers in the areas that would be affected to determine whether they support the change. If the majority of respondents reply yes, all of the nearly 1,400 residences would have Muscle Shoals addresses.

"The final decision will be made based on the responses received," the letter states.

The area mainly is in or near the southern and eastern parts of Muscle Shoals city limits. A number of those addresses also are in or near Tuscumbia or Leighton.

Muscle Shoals Postmaster Lee Nall said more than 1,390 letters were sent out. He said about 800 of the residences receiving them are in Muscle Shoals but don't have a Muscle Shoals mailing address.

"They all get mail somewhere else," Nall said. "It's very confusing."

He stresses that this would not mean the remaining nearly 600 residences would become annexed into the city.

Tuscumbia Mayor Bill Shoemaker has fielded dozens of phone calls from residents with Tuscumbia mailing addresses.

"A lot of people are very upset about this," Shoemaker said.

He said Muscle Shoals is "stacking the deck," considering the majority of residences in the survey are in the Muscle Shoals city limits.

"They are telling (those outside Muscle Shoals) that it doesn't matter what their opinion is because the postal service is going to change their addresses anyway, since 800 of the letters went out to Muscle Shoals residents," Shoemaker said.

He said the occupants of the nearly 600 residences that presently have Tuscumbia and Leighton addresses would have to write to anybody they correspond with through the mail and notify them of the address change.

Shoemaker and Leighton Mayor Lawayne Harrison are contacting federal officials, including the U.S. Postmaster General's Office, about the matter.

"I'm telling everybody I come in contact with in Leighton to vote no," Harrison said. "It doesn't make sense to do this."

Nall said there would be logic in changing the ZIP codes. He said there are Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia and Leighton postal routes running together at some locations. That's why postal officials want that region to have the same ZIP code.

"We can't have three different cities delivering to the same area," he said.

He said the decision about where to send the letters was made by the city of Muscle Shoals, based on the current population and projected growth of the city in the next 10 years.

Nall said the notion of the city "stacking the deck" so that Muscle Shoals gets the most votes is absurd.

"If the city wanted to rig it, they would have only sent the letters to those who live in the city," Nall said.

Muscle Shoals Mayor David Bradford, however, said he was under the impression that the only areas where the letters would be sent would be those in the city limits and city's police and fire jurisdictions.

He said the city made the request to postal officials in 2006.

Bradford said one reason was to make it easier for Muscle Shoals residents and businesses to receive mail without having to go to the post office. He said it took two years for North American Lighting to be able to get its mail delivered because of confusion over the company's ZIP code.

"They had to pick it up here at the post office," he said.

Bradford said this is not a plan to annex anyone.

"We had the Leighton Post Office and Tuscumbia Post Office delivering mail in addresses that were in the city limits of Muscle Shoals and police and fire jurisdictions," he said. "That's what we're trying to clear up."

Nall said the survey is to be mailed to the postal service's district office in Birmingham, which will tally the votes.

Jimmy Johnson, whose U.S. 43 address is listed as a Tuscumbia location, believes Muscle Shoals officials intentionally made sure the majority of residents who vote on the matter live in Muscle Shoals.

Johnson said his children attend Tuscumbia City Schools, and it could cause a problem when he has to show proof that he lives in Tuscumbia and presents an address with a Muscle Shoals ZIP code.

He also said it would be costly and time consuming to notify all mail correspondents of the address change. He wonders if he needs to change his driver's license, which he renewed a few weeks ago.

"I don't like having to change everything," Johnson said. "It's just one step away from annexation for Muscle Shoals. It's something I shouldn't have to worry about."

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 740-5739 or bernie.delinski@TimesDaily.com.