Residents buying homes in some new Athens subdivisions have had trouble getting mail delivered – six weeks of trouble in a few cases.

A Realtor with Legacy Home Group said two of her customers – a couple from San Antonio and a couple from Detroit – waited six weeks to get mail delivered to their new homes on Summerfield Drive in Legacy Grove subdivision. The new residential development – with homes in the $200,000s, a clubhouse, a pool and lakes – is about a mile south of U.S. 72, east of Mooresville Road.

A few residents in other new residential developments have reported similar but slightly shorter delays.

The problem is larger than the hassle of driving downtown to get one’s mail each day.

“They have trouble getting phone or cable service without an address,” said Realtor and broker Marie Eubanks.

An official with the Athens Post Office admits there have had problems swiftly getting mail to the few residents in the new and expanding development.

“We are certainly trying to get that rectified as soon as possible,” said John Walker, postal delivery supervisor and customer service manager. “It generally does not take that long; it should take a couple of weeks once the request is made.”

A shortage of supervisors prompted the delay, he said.

“It is kind of an odd circumstance,” Walker said. “We have been shorthanded on management here. We were down one supervisor — the office usually has two supervisors and a post master — and I have just come to the office recently, within the past couple of months.”

He said he addressed the problem on Summerfield Drive himself.

“I rode those myself a little over a week ago and had to wait for the district headquarters in Birmingham to get it put into the system. And I’ve been telling them (the letter carriers) to go ahead and deliver the mail.”

In order to have mail delivered to a new address (assuming the street is named and the house is assigned by E-911) residents must fill out a request at the Post Office to extend delivery, Walker said.

They can also get a form from a letter carrier – if they see one.

Once that is done, a postal official will drive to the location.

“I have to go out there because the carriers get paid on the number of boxes plus the distance, and I have to clock the miles,” Walker said.