MACHIAS – When Warren Gay volunteered to take over the E-911 address conversion for Machias, he had no idea it would be a two-year process.

Now, as his hard work comes to an end, the only address he has to think about is his own.

On July 1, the address conversions will take effect in Machias, linking each telephone number to a physical address that can be located by emergency responders.

“I’ll be at the post office passing out the new addresses,” said the 67-year-old Machias native.

Residents also will be mailed their new address information and will have 18 months to correct it.

Gay took the position as addressing officer for the project because a friend was working on it and needed help.

“He was working a full-time job, and I’m retired,” Gay said. “I remember when I worked full time it was hard to do a project like this.”

The U.S. Postal Service originally used a global positioning system to map the address conversion, but found that it missed smaller roads.

That was where Gay came in.

“Warren was great,” said Machias Postmaster Karen Wallace. “He was very thorough and would go to a house, find the owners, and fix any mistake. GPS doesn’t do that.”

Gay’s attention to detail was a driving force in fixing any problems.

“We had a problem with several houses being off single driveways,” he said. “So I would have to mark each house and find out who lived there.”

As a result, new roads were established.

It was a time-consuming process that had Gay using a mileage wheel to determine lengths of roads.

“I walked probably about 10 miles,” he said, “but mostly I would put the wheel out the driver’s side door and get the miles that way.”

Every 50 feet he would stop and mark the nearest house on his pad of paper, then move on.

“I was glad to help,” he said.

Residents do not need to contact the post office with address changes, but do need to notify utility companies, credit companies, insurance companies, schools, doctors and magazines, according to a press release from the Machias town office.

The post office said that to comply with the state and federal mandates that will implement the E-911 system, residents should set up their mailboxes to the following standards:

. The number should be displayed prominently on the mailbox and on the front of the home or business.

. The numerals should be at least 11/4 inch in height on the mailbox and 4 inches in height on the house.

. The number should be a color that contrasts with the mailbox and house for better visibility.