The  U.S. Postal Service is discussing a proposal to move a portion of the mail processing from the Akron Processing and Distribution Center to Cleveland.

David Van Allen, spokesman for the Northern Ohio District of the U.S Postal Service, says the tough economic climate prompted the idea.

"Although this can be an emotional issue for some people, this is something we have to aggressively pursue in order to right-size our network," he said.

The U.S. Post Office held a public meeting at Copley-Fairlawn High School to outline and answer questions about some of the possible changes in their service.

Van Allen says that if the post office decides to consolidate, jobs here in Akron would be affected.

"If the proposal were to go through, it would have a net impact of 241 positions," he said.

"Those positions would have to be reassigned in accordance with the respective unions."

The Post Office conducted a feasibility study September 15th to support its case for consolidation, saying the proposed annual savings would total over $18,000.

Those who attended the meeting on the U.S. Post Office Akron mail processing study had a lot on their minds.

Andy Zaharie of Canton says that the proposal to move some of the operations from Akron's mail processing facility to Cleveland will only be a temporary solution to fixing their budget.

"If they remove machines that process mail and mail picks up in this area, they're going to have a real problem."

Zaharie says that part of the decline in mail volume is due to the technology boom, and therefore producing ideas of consolidation.

With the potential influx of mail that would be flooding the Cleveland processing center if the proposal went through, Donnie Miller says it would be an inconvenience for those who rely on the postal service as opposed to e-mail.

"There's a lot of people that still rely on the mail that don't own a computer, or aren't computer literate," he said.

"There's a lot of folks in this local area, so I believe it would be an inconvenience from that perspective."

Despite the population boom, Van Allen says starting in 2007,  mail volume has declined by 22-percent due to the presence of the Internet.

Postal worker Jim Novak says that traditional mail is a secure system and that's why a processing center is necessary in Akron.

"Electronics is a lot easier for identity theft," he explains.

"If you send something through the U.S. Mail it will get there, no questions asked."

Post Office officials say results of the study show that by taking advantage of the available processing capacity at the Cleveland mail processing center, it would increase efficiency and improve productivity.

The proposed consolidation would support a two to three-day service standard for first-class mail.

If the proposal is approved, changes will be coming in spring of 2012.