Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones/file

Bethel Midtown Village

The U.S. Postal Service resumed delivering mail to Bethel Midtown Village today after a meeting with Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Cleveland Spruill.

Spruill met with Atlanta District Post Office Operations Manager Anne Berger to "clear up confusion and misinformation regarding crime in the community," according to an ACCPD news release. Berger agreed to temporarily resume mail delivery at Bethel, and a meeting on permanently restoring mail delivery is scheduled for next week.

Commissioner Ovita Thornton said at the July 2 commission meeting that Bethel residents had not received their mail for over a week.

"The non-mail delivery goes back to the stereotypes about Bethel Homes—it's a dangerous spot," Thornton said. "I just want to put it out there,  you've got some good people in Bethel Homes, they are working families, and they should not be struggling about their mail." 

The postal service stopped delivering mail to Bethel, a low-income apartment complex off College Avenue, in mid-June because of a "rash of crime," the Banner-Herald reported Wednesday, forcing residents to go to the Olympic Drive post office to pick it up. But crime in the area is actually down, according to Spruill.