By Monica Pryts
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP — If enough funding becomes available, the blue recycling bins in Hempfield Township will be relocated to the municipal building.
The bins will be removed this week from the parking lot of Walmart Supercenter, where they’ve been situated for the last two years.
Corporate officials from the retailer’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., recently said they want the nine bins removed because a company policy says anything not affiliated with Walmart cannot be located on its property.
There are four other sites in Mercer with the recycling bins, which are maintained by Mercer County Regional Planning Commission. The program is run by Mercer County commissioners and funded by grants.
The township has received $2,000 from an anonymous donor to help relocate the bins, which would cost about $10,000, Todd Hittle, township treasurer and secretary, said Monday.
Township officials are seeking permission from the state to use $3,000 in grant money to blacktop a spot behind the municipal building, 278 S. Mercer St., and install proper drainage to accommodate the bins, he said.
The grant was meant to build sidewalks on Hadley Road, but the cost of the project was estimated at $50,000 and the grant is for only $5,000.
County officials are looking at their funds to determine if they can provide the remaining $5,000, Hittle said.
If that plan doesn’t work out, the bins will be split up among several sites in or near the township. County officials want to keep the bins in the area because they’re heavily used, he said.
The other recycling sites are in Findley, Perry and Pymatuning townships and New Wilmington.
