First Posted: 8/10/2012

ST. PAULS — Store owners will need to get permission from the Board of Commissioners if they wish to keep yellow clothing donation bins that have popped up around the city, Town Administrator Stuart Turille said on Thursday.

“The reason this came up is that we are getting complaints that people dump the clothes in the parking lot and run, or throw trash on the side of them,” Turille said during a board meeting.

The bins are owned by the nonproft Planet Aid. According to the Planet Aid website, there are six bins in St. Pauls, located at La Roca Mexican Store, at 405 S. Fifth St.; Fiesta Mexicana, at 766 E. Broad St.; Happy Mart No. 5, at 19369 U.S. 301 North; Bo’s Supermarket, at 406 E. Broad St.; Five Star Discount, at 502 W. Broad St.; and Butler’s Funeral Home, at 440 N. Railroad St.

Commissioner Jerry Weindel said there’s also a bin at Dollar General, and that “there’s stuff laying all over.”

Turille said that a nonprofit use in a business zone is not allowed, and the bins will be removed unless the town’s business owners write a letter stating that they wish to keep the bins on their property.

Also at the meeting, Catie Roach, the director of the Robeson County Public Library, presented information on traffic at the Annie Hubbard McEachern Public Library.

“In the last 12 months, … we’ve had 13,000 visits to our local library right here in St. Pauls,” she said. “We’ve had 5,000 people take advantage of the computers; we’ve had 950 children who have participated in about 40 programs throughout the last year; we’ve circulated 7,800 items.”

In other action on Thursday, the board:

— Approved the use of the Boy Scout Hut on North Fourth Street for weekly meetings of the Robeson County Prepare for Success Teen Outreach Program.

— Declared an old fire truck and miscellaneous fire equipment surplus.

— Approved two bids from Superior Flooring, one for a $530 for sanding and refinishing the floor of the Boy Scout Hut, and one for $4,400 for the sanding and refinishing of floors at the R.E. Hooks Community Building. Turille said that the job was advertised for two weeks but no other bids came in.

— Approved a $10,010 bid from King’s Paving, of Lumberton, for paving of the town’s parking lots.

— Approved a $28,975 bid from Sykes Paving, of Bladenboro, for resurfacing of West Armfield Street to the railroad tracks, and of Elizabeth Street to Armfield and McLean streets.

— Accepted the sale of a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 truck for $1,010.