Months after London council first sought a written agreement with Canada Post about community mailbox locations, city hall has yet to negotiate one to govern the process.

Critics say city hall's failure to have an agreement in place before installations began has left council on the sidelines.

Each day, more and more community mailboxes are installed in north and east London, but only now will city hall be negotiating a contract with Canada Post to have input into the process.

”I don't think they have acted quickly at all and I think we are seeing the problems that have arisen,” says Wendy Goldsmith of the community group, Londoners for Door to Door.

“We were really hoping that London would have done something more proactive than what we're hearing now. “

Council asked staff to negotiate an agreement with Canada Post on March 10, regarding the installation, maintenance and liability associated with the 1,500 boxes proposed for London.

Staff are now presenting council with a draft agreement, which will be the basis for negotiations.

Concerns have been raised about boxes installed in no-parking zones and in spots which could impact backing out of some driveways.

Coun. Virginia Ridley says Canada Post’s lack of meaningful consultation with neighbours will likely mean a process of having to relocate problematic boxes.

“The process has been a messy one, where other issues have gotten in the way of what my message has always been -  let’s do this in the best possible way for Londoners.”

Staff have suggested using a Federation of Canadian Municipalities generic template as a starting point.

Ridley expects the agreement will provide direction on relocating the boxes city hall deems problematic.

“Ideally we would have had this agreement in place already, but the most we can do at this point is ensure the agreement is completed in as quick a time as possible,” she says.

On Monday, city councillors will be asked to give the go-ahead to staff to proceed with negotiating the contract based on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities template, which has been in existence since at least 2011.