West Burke garbage truck not up to the task of curbside trash pickup

West Burke select board members learned last week that the town’s garbage truck didn’t need an $8,000 repair, but they’re still not convinced it’s up to the task of curbside trash pickup. During a meeting on Friday that also served as a budget-building session, officials talked trash and the fate of door-to-door rubbish service. The week prior began with the select board deciding that the town was done putting repair money into the truck and that they would sell it and ended with a decision to repair the truck instead and use it only to park in places where residents could take their trash. They had been told the fix to address the universal joint in the rear of the vehicle was estimated to cost $8,000. On Friday, Town Administrator Jim Sullivan shared that a mechanic said the problem they thought they had with the truck wasn’t a problem after all. “I think that we might have a truck that’s in a little better shape than what we initially thought,” he said. Still, the truck’s history of repair and maintenance costs has officials leery of sending it up and down the hills of East and West Burke stopping at every house each once a week. The plan is to invite the public to the next select board meeting on Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. to share their thoughts.