U.S. Postal Service officials made it official Friday: Some operations at the Sage Road postal facility in Medford will be moved to Portland in coming months.

A statement provided Friday by U.S. Postal Service spokesperson Kim Frum, a day after the deadline to submit input on results of a preliminary facilities review, said the local facility would be relieved of a part of its current operations.

“After a thorough business review and solicitation of public feedback, the Postal Service has completed its Mail Processing Facility Review and determined that the facility will remain open and modernized as a Local Processing Center and some mail and package processing operations will transition to the new Portland Regional Processing and Distribution Center,” the statement read.

The statement said that the regional postal distribution facility on Sage Road will lose 17 “craft,” non-career positions and one management position.

Jeremy Schilling, president of APWU Local 342, said specific job cuts include 37 total local positions — 10 maintenance and 27 mail processing jobs, with 20 positions added to Portland, he explained, “so they could say it was only 17.”

The American Postal Workers Union Local 342 has hosted demonstrations in recent weeks, at the Medford and Central Point post offices, and attended a community meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn in Medford to oppose downsizing and position cuts to the Sage Road operations.

During the meeting at the hotel, organized by the U.S. Postal Service, an audience of 80-plus people — including postal workers and community members — spoke in opposition to the proposed changes. No one spoke in favor.

Frum reiterated in an email to the Rogue Valley Times, “there will be no career layoffs as part of this initiative and no impacts to local customer and retail service.” Craft positions are non-career positions for employees with less tenure.

“The new Medford Local Processing Center and the Portland Regional Processing and Distribution Center are critical nodes in our network transformation plan. As part of this work, our goal is to reach 95% on-time delivery for all mail products,” Frum’s statement read.

Schilling said he had predicted months ago that postal officials would simply “sign off on the whole thing before the comment period ended” and that the comment period was merely a formality.

“The Postal Service has shown once again that they are simply checking the boxes and are determined to implement their plan regardless of public opinion,” Schilling said, noting that union members will continue with plans to demonstrate in front of U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz’s Medford office, 14 N. Central Ave., from 1-2 p.m. Sept. 16.

“We will continue to fight this consolidation. The public needs to be aware of the severe service cuts they will face with this consolidation. Local mail will be trucked 560 miles round trip before delivery. Local ballots will now be shipped up to Portland before returning to be counted. All of this says nothing of the 27 dedicated employees who will be forced to search for work elsewhere because, to most, a transfer to Portland is the same as a layoff.”

Jackson County Elections Clerk Chris Walker said potential impacts of changes to postal operations were “very concerning” but that she would reserve comment, pending official notification from Postal Service officials.

Under the planned changes, savings range from $4.8 million and $6.4 million. Despite the report stating that better service levels and cost savings will result from the consolidation effort, Schilling said local workers have concerns with mail delivery times, which could affect for medication deliveries, as well as ballots.

Under the proposed changes, time stamps would still be available at Postal Service retail counters but would not be guaranteed for outgoing mail from other locations, such as homes or businesses.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, denounced consolidation of regional postal operations, calling regional and rural postal centers “vital hubs and economic drivers of Oregon communities in every corner of the state.”

“I have significant concerns with the decision by (U.S. Postal Service) leadership to move processing operations from the Medford and Eugene facilities to one super distribution center in Portland, which I believe would undermine service standards, workers and customers,” Merkley said Friday.

“I will be pushing for answers on the factors that led to this decision and examining the potential impacts on Oregonians and postal workers over the coming weeks, which will inform my next course of action.”

For information, see the Postal Service link at https://about.usps.com/what/strategic-plans/mpfr/welcome.htm