Snow and ice take toll on Maine mailboxes

NEW GLOUCESTER (WGME) – Maine has certainly gotten a lot of snow and ice this winter, and one of the casualties from all that snow are mailboxes that get bent, broken and busted.

Maria Plapis says she's also had about enough of plow truck drivers destroying her mailboxes.

She says when MaineDOT plowed the stretch of Route 100 in New Gloucester, there was never a problem, but the work is now contracted to Gray.

Since then, she says their mailboxes have been knocked over more than a dozen times during snowstorms, five times this winter alone.

"He goes way too fast up and down this road," Plapis said.

She says they've had to buy one new post and at least five new mailboxes.

"I've been replacing them every year. It's getting expensive," Plapis said. "We switched to metal ones because we thought that at least it would stand up to their plow trucks. It still is getting hit constantly."

She says during last week's snowstorm, their new surveillance camera shows their mailbox knocked over not once, but twice, after her husband put it back up.

"Nothing is working over here,” Plapis said. “And when you drive down the road you can see all the various mailboxes that have been hit."

Maria Plapis called Gray's public works department, who she says told her to call Maine DOT.

"The gentleman said that it was not his responsibility, they do not own the road," Plapis said.

Maine DOT's deputy commissioner says since they no longer plow the highway, they're not responsible.

"I'm just tired of buying new mailboxes every year and nobody wants to take blame for it," Plapis said.

The Gray town manager says she is unaware of this problem. She say the town does have a policy that they will replace any broken mailboxes for free in the springtime.

"On their website, they say they will replace a mailbox,” Plapis said. “But when I talked to him, he said that they won't."

We'll find out what Gray plans to do about this and let you know.