Marion residents voted at the May Town Meeting to transition to a contracted waste and recycling removal service. The town is finalizing plans to have Waste Management take over the Marion's residential trash and recycling removal.

Waste Management uses trucks with a mechanized arm to pick up trash receptacles and dump their contents in the back of the truck.

"The town's garbage trucks are old, worn and unreliable," McGrail said. "Changing over to a contracted service will provide our residents with a much better, more reliable waste removal cycle. Waste Management's automated trucks also provide a safer service for everyone involved, because there won't be workers hanging onto the back of a garbage truck anymore, like with the town-owned trucks."

All residents who are currently enrolled in the town's trash pickup service will be automatically enrolled in the new Waste Management service. The current transfer station in town will also remain in operation and is available for residential trash as well.

More information about the transition will be made available to residents in the coming weeks. New trash and recycling totes will also be delivered to residents’ homes this summer, before the new waste service begins.

The town is also planning to hold a public meeting to provide more information on the change, and will announce the time and date for that meeting in the coming weeks.