Burke selectmen reversed course with the town’s rubbish truck

 Burke selectmen reversed course with the town’s rubbish truck on Friday. At their regular meeting on Monday, the select board voted to abandon the truck that offered curbside trash service because it needs to be fixed and is likely to continue to cost the town money in repairs. Four days later and after some feedback from townspeople, select board chair Joe Allard and selectmen Mark Daigle voted to keep the truck and pay the money to have it repaired, estimated at $8,000. The town’s rubbish truck, which came to Burke second-hand, has been out of service for two weeks. It has a history of repair needs. Town Administrator Jim Sullivan said the vote on Friday to fix the truck does not mean curbside service is returning any time soon. He said the truck, even with the needed repair, will not endure its previous task of running weekly routes to every address in East and West Burke. The plan will be to park the truck in various locations in town to make it more convenient for townspeople to take their garbage bags. Currently, townspeople must drive their rubbish to the Community Building in West Burke. Three large dumpsters are parked there into which people can toss their trash.