NATCHEZ — The Sibley Post office has been placed on a list post offices that could face shortened hours.

In an announcement made Wednesday, the U.S. Postal Service said that rather than closing low-volume rural post offices, it would reduce the retail window hours to reflect the usage of the community.

“We’ve listened to our customers in rural America, and we’ve heard them loud and clear — they want to keep their Post office open,” Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said in a news release. “We believe today’s announcement will serve our customers’ needs and allow us to achieve real savings to help the Postal Service return to long-term financial stability.”

The proposal would reduce the daily retail hours at the Sibley Post office from eight hours to two hours. The Sibley office rents approximately 130 mailboxes to residents in the area.

An employee at the Sibley Post office said local offices were not yet allowed to discuss future plans.

Late last year, when the possibility that the Sibley office would be closed was first brought to local attention, the Adams County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution asking that the office be kept open.

District 1 Supervisor Mike Lazarus said he was glad to see the office stay open.

“I am sorry the hours are reduced, but you have to consider the alternative,” he said. “Those folks (who use it) would have to come all the way to town for postal service. A lot of these people are elderly or handicapped in certain ways, and it would be a real inconvenience.”

Sibley-area resident Shirley McCallister said she felt keeping the post office open was a positive for the community.

“There are a lot of people who use that post office and have used it for a lot of years,” she said.

“I don’t think (the change) will be a hardship, because even if they have shorter hours, it beats the alternative. It would be hard for people to have to get out in the weather every day to drive to Natchez to get mail, especially in the winter time.”

The proposal would also reduce the Acme, La., retail hours from four hours daily to two hours. The Crosby post office in Wilkinson County would face the same reduction in hours as Sibley, and the Union Church office in Jefferson County would see daily retail window time cut from eight to four hours.