For the past month, a one-armed bandit has been roaming Moorhead's streets, digging through residents garbage cans.
And nobody seems to mind.
The Moorhead sanitation department is testing a new type of garbage truck, nicknamed the "one-armed bandit" in reference to the mechanical arm attached to its side.
The arm is supposed to allow the operator to pluck garbage cans from the curb without ever leaving the truck, speeding up the trash-collecting process.
"We are at a point with our current staff that with the new housing growth and schools, we are going to either have to add staff or work more efficiently," said Chad Martin, Moorhead's operations director.
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Not everyone in the sanitation department believes the $150,000 trucks are the answer to the city's problem.
Kevin Sandeen, who has worked in the sanitation department 25 years, operated the truck the past 30 days. Despite the mechanical arm, Sandeen ended up spending a lot of time out of the truck, he said.
Parked cars blocked garbage cans at times and residents occasionally didn't put the can close enough to the curb for the arm to grab, he said.
"There are a lot of things that have to happen to make it work," Sandeen said.
The mechanical arm, which extends about 6 feet, is easily controlled through a panel in the truck's cab.
But Sandeen prefers the current method where a crew of two manually feed garbage into a rear-loading truck.
Moorhead must do something to accommodate growth and adding employees is unlikely since the sanitation staff was reduced from 23 to 19 during last year's restructuring, Martin said.
He believes the collection process would be faster with the new trucks once crews and Moorhead residents become accustomed to the change.
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A standard truck and two-person crew can handle about 500 houses during an eight-hour day, he said.
An automated truck and operator should be able to remove garbage from 1,800 houses, he said.
The city currently has five of the $105,000 rear-loading trucks.
Since the automated trucks can't handle larger bins, the five existing trucks would be used on commercial routes, Martin said.
Three hundred Moorhead residents participated in a pilot program that ended Friday. They were provided a trash can and given instructions to place the receptacles near the curb.
North Moorhead resident Dan Swanson had two minor complaints. Parked cars blocked the can at times, and Swanson had to cut a hole through a 5-foot snowdrift to get the receptacle close enough to the curb.
Swanson said he didn't have a strong opinion either way about the purchase of new trucks.
"Overall, it went OK," he said.
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Martin will give City Manager Bruce Messelt the results of the pilot test next month. If the City Council supports the idea, Moorhead could have new trucks by next winter.
If approved, the city would have to purchase three of the new trucks, Martin said.
Another $500,000 would be spent on 10,000 garbage cans that would be given to residents, Martin said.
The cans, which come in 30-, 60- and 90-gallon sizes, would be expected to last about 10 years.
"In truth, I don't think the citizens will notice the difference," Martin said of possibly switching to the new trucks.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Baird at (701) 241-5535
