SPENCER — The town of Spencer rolled out a new trash collection vehicle last week. The public works director said he is pleased with how the first week went.

While trash pick-up days did not change for Spencer residents, a couple of new guidelines were enacted to ensure that the town’s automated side load (ASL) garbage truck would be able to work as intended.

“We have dealt with our share of issues during this transition, but all within what we expected,” Public Works Director Joel Taylor said. 

The primary issue public works staff encountered concerned the placement of the cans.

“As far as placement of cans, they need to be roughly two to three feet away from any obstacle like telephone poles, cars, guidewires or mailboxes,” Taylor said. 

The change was made to aid Spencer Public Works staff by streamlining the collection process, reducing delays in waste collection due to vehicle maintenance and increasing staff time to work on other projects. One of the ways that it saves time is by preventing the staff member from having to exit the truck to collect the trash. To ensure that the arm can perform that function properly, the can needs to be facing the right direction. 

“All of the cans need to be faced toward the street, with wheels being toward the curb,” Taylor said. “That way, when he comes around, he doesn’t have to get out and turn the can around.”

With so many areas in Spencer with street parking, finding adequate space for the can to be accessed by the arm loader is challenging.

“We have some areas that it will not help, and we will have to figure out something different on trash days as far as (pick-up goes),” Taylor said. 

Taylor said they anticipated many of the issues before rolling out the transition. 

“We are picking them off one at a time,” Taylor said. “Every week, my driver is getting a little bit better and more familiar with the truck … It’s definitely a big transition.”

All growing pains aside, Taylor said, “As a whole, last week went really, really well … The more we do it, the faster we will get and the better our drivers will get.”

Public works staff swapped out 12 carts that were incompatible with the truck last week, and seven residents purchased a second roll-out cart to comply with the new service. 

Trash outside the cart will not be picked up, so if a resident needs a second cart, they should contact Town Hall at 704-633-2231. A new cart from Spencer costs $64. It’s a one-time fee and does not include a monthly rate hike. 

Staff resolved several parking trouble spots this week by talking with customers. However, numerous areas in town still need parking adjustments to implement the process fully. 

Any areas that could not be serviced with the new truck this week were collected with Spencer’s backup rear loader. Staff will continue running the backup truck on a limited basis until the transition process is complete.

Taylor added that the town’s pre-transition routes remain intact.

“Your trash day is still your trash day,” Taylor said. “If, for some reason, it does not get picked up on that day, leave it out. We know, and it will get picked up.”

The town put a brochure on its website with information regarding the new system. 

It can be found at https://spencernc.gov/collection-changes-are-on-the-horizon/?fbclid=IwAR1k-hCUS3NSQp50414IpaRQMr4eHArtDRhdgSQvL9TZ1e1iB13Jq-ATLnY.