URBANA — Folks who use U.S. Postal Service facilities on campus will get a chance to help save them next week.

The postal service has scheduled community meetings on the future of Station "A" at 302 E. Green St., C, and the University Station inside Altgeld Hall for 5 p.m. Oct. 11.

The meetings will be held at the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., U, with the University Station meeting scheduled from 5 to 6 p.m. and the Station "A" meeting scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m.

Both stations are among more than 30 post offices and stations in East Central Illinois being studied by the postal service for possible closure.

In recent weeks, community meetings have been held for facilities in Bondville, Muncie, Murdock, Armstrong, Collison, Vermilion and DeLand, among others.

Meetings were to be held Tuesday for Longview and Royal. A meeting for Ivesdale is slated for 5:30 p.m. today at the Ivesdale post office, said Valerie Welsch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service's Gateway District in St. Louis.

At the meetings, postal officials are expected to explain their findings and answer questions.

Welsch said the postal service allots 10 days for community input after 20 days of gathering data on whether the post offices should be closed.

A "final determination" is expected 70 days after the community input period.

That's followed by a 30-day customer appeal period. If there's no appeal, the closing could come 60 days after that. If there is an appeal, 120 days are added to the time line.

In recent weeks, the postal service has sent usage surveys to households in Champaign-Urbana served by Station "A" and the University Station.

The survey asks residents how often they use the stations for various services. It also asks whether they use alternative ways of doing business with the postal service, such as going online to buy stamps.

Residents are also asked whether they have access to a computer, a printer and the Internet — and whether they have transportation to get to another nearby post office.

Recipients of the University Station survey were told they could use the downtown Urbana station for post office boxes if the University Station closes.

Recipients of the Station "A" survey were told they could use the Neil Street station, 600 N. Neil St., C, for post office boxes if Station "A" closes. They were also told they could use the downtown Urbana station for services.