OXFORD — The business where the town's only post office is located is closing next month, and a new location has not been secured.

U.S. Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., says he has heard from several concerned residents and has expressed his own concern to the U.S. Postal Service.

"I have heard from local residents who are concerned about possible delays or disruptions in mail service if Oxford is forced to go without a functioning post office," he stated in a letter to the Postal Service.

"I share these concerns. For a community like Oxford, losing their only postal office would be disastrous."

Haynes Development, the company that owns the building that houses the post office at 297 Oxford Road, or Route 67, said last week that it is working to secure a suitable location for the post office and that it will not let the people of Oxford go without a post office.

The post office in Oxford has been moved several times over the past 10 years. The new plan is to move it to the site of the Quarry Walk at Oxford Center, which is a $70 million mixed-use, commercial and residential project that Haynes is building across the street from the current post office — at the site of its quarry. The development will include a bank, a pharmacy, a medical facility, restaurants and other businesses.

Murphy stated in his letter that if something is not done to remedy the situation soon, he fears Oxford residents will suffer.

"Mail service could be affected, and many residents, including seniors, would be forced to travel further to another post office," he stated in his letter.

Kathy Ekstrom, project manager at Haynes Development, said it has always been the company's intention to incorporate the post office into Quarry Walk to provide people a more permanent solution to their postal needs.

She said the initial plan was to locate it across from a library within the project that the company had proposed. Since town officials do not want to build a library within the development, Haynes is now "exploring several other options," Ekstrom said.

She said the company has been in discussions with a couple of businesses about taking over the mail contract with the Postal Service; she said the company was informed there was a bidding process for that move.

"In the event that USPS is not successful in securing a successor, we (Haynes) will see that the Oxford post office continues to operate without interruption," she said. "We will not leave the town of Oxford without a post office of their own."