Mail Boxes and Posts
Oakwood Estates has traditional roadside mail boxes, for USPS's deliveries. Most of these boxes, and their posts, were installed many years ago and are now showing their age. Replacing yours is a good weekend project!
Your original post is likely 4x4 red cedar or pressure treated pine. If it is wobbly, the chances are good that your post has rotted below the soil line, so shoring it up won't help. It's time to replace it, but USPS's guidelines for posts have changed. Many of ours are only about 36 inches from the pavement to the bottom of the box; as of this writing the USPS wants them 41 to 45 inches, and setback 6 to 8 inches from the road's edge. Visit the USPS's Web site for more and updated information (should open in a new tab or window):
https://www.usps.com/manage/mailboxes.htm
Our township investigated rules for mail box posts, out of a concern about run-off-the-road accidents. Masonry obviously is less forgiving than soft red cedar, for example. It is unknown if the township ever adopted rules -- none were found on the Web. Please contact the HOA's President if you learn of any formal township rules; please forward a copy.
If you are lucky, your existing post was just buried a couple of feet into the dirt. But more likely it was surrounded by concrete and will make replacing the post a challenge. If concreted, check to see if the wood in the hole has rotted away and can be scooped out -- that way a new post might easily slip into the cleaned-out slot in the existing concrete footing.
Making your mail box and post match the colors of your house can help identify it for lettercarriers and others. Also consider adding reflectors to help drivers see and avoid your mail box. The small, round reflectors that appear occasionally are attached by delivery drivers.