For most people who live in a town or city, putting their garbage out on the curb and having it disappear in the morning is a ritual that is taken for granted.

The dedication of a new garbage truck was an occasion for prayer and fellowship between residents in the Town of Dobbins Heights Tuesday afternoon, however.

The majority of the speakers also acknowledged the addition was that much sweeter because it was purchased with money from Dobbins Heights taxpayers town’s taxpayers and not a hand-me-down truck from the county.

In a mayoral address, Dobbins Heights Mayor Antonio Blue referred to the controversy that surrounded the town’s request for a new garbage truck from the county while it had more than $200,000 in outstanding uncollected property taxes. The issue was the topic of stories in The Daily Journal.

“You all know the things we went through trying to get a garbage truck earlier this year,” Blue told more than a dozen people who attended the ceremony. “It still was a blessing, because people started paying their taxes, and we got our revenue up. So, what might have seemed bad worked out for our good.

“... It was a must for us to get this truck, and we ended up getting a brand-new truck, not a used one.”

Efforts by the town to collect the unpaid taxes are apparent at town hall, where the double glass doors at the entrance are more than half papered with delinquent tax notices. At one point the doors were fully covered with lists of people who hadn’t paid their taxes.

Blue later told those in attendance the town’s new garbage truck will be paid off in installments.

The total cost of the 2006 International truck was $75,200, Blue said after the ceremony. He also pointed out that despite the truck’s manufacture date, it is a new truck with very limited mileage.

Rick Hinson of LoadAl South of Rockingham also addressed the crowd. He was the businessman who sold the truck to the town.

Dobbins Heights Town Councilwoman Gracie Jackson and area religious leaders

were also among those who addressed the crowd.

“We’re just so thankful to God for allowing us to have this,” Jackson told those in attendance. “Many of us have witnessed this town from the beginning, when we had just a regular street truck that would drive up and the man would get out and get the trash ... I’m sure that somewhere down the line, we’ll have some citizens who will be so thankful that they’ll give a big donation.”

She also pointed out the town is currently gearing up for improvements on Earle Franklin Drive, and there has been a new church built along the town’s main thoroughfare.

“This is a historical event on the part of Dobbins Heights, to have a brand-new garbage truck,” she finished.

“We dedicate this garbage truck to Dobbins Heights, for the betterment of the community and its citizens,” Rev. Mordecai Ross said during the actual dedication.

He was followed by speaker Bishop Thomas Wooten Jr. who pointed to the dedication as an event that could cause momentum for the town.

“I’m hoping and I’m praying that citizens will get involved and pay their taxes so that many more great things can take place in Dobbins Heights,” Wooten said.

For town employee James Metz, who will have the charge of driving the truck, the day was a joyous occasion because it meant his job would be that much easier and more sanitary.

He leaped onto a picnic table under the shelter where the ceremony took place with the remains of Tropical Storm Ida falling around the shelter.

“This is the turn-around for Dobbins Heights,” Metz said. “And I just want to thank the citizens for working together to make this happen.”

n Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.