Citizens of Selma take note &045; trash relief is on the way.

According to General Services Acting Superintendent Henry Hicks, machine breakdowns and holidays have interfered with the city’s trash pickup. That means residents might have to wait a little longer to have their trash collected.

Hicks said a number of collection trucks had boom breakdowns. The boom is a mechanical arm connected to the truck. &uot;We have to send these trucks to Montgomery to be fixed,&uot; Hicks said.

He added that only one vacuum truck was working. The vacuum trucks collect leaves, but can break down when people don’t separate their leaves from rocks and other foreign objects.

The equipment failure began about three weeks ago. Hicks noted that his department performs maintenance on the vehicles, but said that he had no control over when breakdowns occurred.

The delay in trash pickup is limited to trash, which is defined as tree limbs, leaves and items such as chairs and couches. Garbage is defined as household refuse.

No delay in garbage pickup is expected.

A shortage of manpower and holidays are also causing trash pickup to delay. Hicks’ department got behind because of Veterans Day and a tornado watch that occurred the same week. The Thanksgiving holiday is expected to back things up even more.

The slow down, though, should only last until Dec. 8.

Hicks said people who put their trash out on Mondays and Tuesdays should wait until Friday of next week. Those who put out trash on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays should stick with their normal schedule.

Trash schedules are expected to return to normal Dec. 8.

Hicks requested that residents bag their leaves. If the vacuum truck is broken, a normal truck can be sent to collect the leaves.

Hicks said any residents with problems should contact his office at 874-2165.