OTISFIELD — The move to save the town’s only collection mailbox continues.

Selectmen drafted a letter to Sen. Olympia Snowe at Wednesday night’s board meeting detailing why the town wants to have the “Big Blue Box,” as it’s being called, remain in front of Town Hall on Route 121. The letter is in response to the senator’s request for documentation from the board.

An unexpected uproar over the removal of the Otisfield collection mailbox in front of Town Hall occurred earlier this week sparking the interest of Snowe, Sen. Susan Collins, state Sen. Dave Hastings and others — and causing officials at the U.S. Postal Service to give the box’s removal a second look.

The blue collection box, which sits in the driveway of the Otisfield Town Hall on Route 121, was given a 10-day notice for removal this week after the U.S. Postal Service decided the box did not have enough mail deposited in it to warrant spending money on the maintenance and labor to keep it open.

Town Administrator Marianne Izzo-Morin told selectmen that local officials went so far as to put the arm of a backhoe over the mailbox Monday night. Officials feared the U.S. Postal Service would reappear to steal the box away in the middle of the night after they showed up during the day to try to take the box.

Selectmen agreed that the box is the only safe collection box available for Town Hall use, and also for many residents who have had their mail stolen or boxes vandalized over the years.

Otisfield does not have its own post office and many of the 1,750 residents in town have to drive to Oxford to share that facility.

When summer arrives, the population doubles, and many seasonal residents don’t have a box or mailbox by their home. This causes the usage of the “Big Blue Box” to increases significantly, Izzo-Morin said.

ldixon@sunjournal.com