A collaborative effort between Anderson Township and the Forest Hills Local School District will provide more parking for the district’s new Administrative Offices while increasing neighborhood recycling options.
Anderson Township residents are known for their recycling efforts throughout Hamilton County, as evidenced by a recent award as for the Best Township Recycling Rate in 2014, based on recycling tonnages. This success has been fueled partly by its popular 24/7 drop off recycling center on Beechmont Avenue.
Anderson Township officials hope to build on this success and also accommodate the Forest Hills School District as a new neighbor to the township’s Operations Center by offering new drop-off locations across the community.
A few weeks ago, Forest Hills schools announced plans to purchase the building at 7950 Beechmont Ave., which is directly in front of the township’s popular recycling center. The Beechmont Avenue building currently houses Coldwell Banker and Cheviot Savings Bank offices. School administrators will move from their Forest Road location to the new Beechmont location, with transportation, food service and maintenance taking over the school’s previous administrative offices.
In order to accommodate parking needs of school administrators who will be housed at the new location, Anderson Township agreed to move its 27 Rumpke recycling bins to make way for more parking spaces, which will actually present more recycling options for residents.
Anderson Township plans to close the drop-off recycling center on Beechmont and relocate the recycling bins to school sites. Specific locations and details will be announced this spring.
“No other changes to the township’s current recycling efforts, including adjustments related to which items are acceptable to be recycled, are expected,” said Public Works Director Richard Shelley.
Steve Sievers, Anderson’s assistant administrator for operations, noted the township made the accommodations to welcome the schools to the site, which is adjacent to the township’s Operations Center campus. “We believe having our offices side by side will even further continue our collaborative relationship,” he said.
“This change will make the sites closer to neighborhoods and hopefully more accessible to our residents, while also provide the opportunity to enhance recycling education and awareness into the school curriculum,” Sievers added.
Sievers noted the district and township discussed other parking options, including the adjacent Pinnacle Plaza Shopping Center. However, Fitworks will be redeveloped into a Fresh Thyme Farmers’ Market in 2016, and it is projected that much of the parking area between that location and Applebee’s will be needed for Fresh Thyme and additional space in the center that is currently vacant, he said. The township recently received plans from Fitworks, which is planning to move to the Beechmont Retail Center (next to Dollar General and near Arthur’s) in the coming month, Sievers said.
Additional information related to future recycling locations will be distributed later this spring. In the meantime, the Anderson Drop-Off Recycling Center, 7954 Beechmont Ave., is open at its current location.