One Pembroke resident likened the process of debating whether or not the town should switch over to automated trash and recycling collection to sausage making.

The end result may be delicious, but the process of watching it being made was less than appealing.

Regardless, more than 200 residents patiently sat through the debate during the three-hour Town Meeting on Saturday, March 14, the majority of which was spent discussing a series of warrant articles that outlined the proposal for automated trash collecting.

In the end, the townspeople overwhelming approved the idea, which includes spending more than $500,000 on a new split-body collection truck and new trash containers designed to be compatible with the automated collection arm attached to the new dump truck.

The automated system is expected to be up and running in November. Board of Selectmen Chairman Fred Kline said at the end of the meeting that he was not surprised that the proposals passed because, in the end, the residents understood that the new system will save the town money in the long run when it comes to tipping fees.

“I knew there was going to be a high level of debate,” Kline said.

Pembroke is currently charged $46 per ton to dump its trash at an incinerator in Penacook. The long-term contract the town is locked into with that facility is set to expire by the year’s end, when the tipping fees are expected to rise to as much as $65 per ton.

Although the automated trash collection system won’t keep those fees per trash ton from rising, the automated curbside recycling will reduce the amount of trash being hauled away. Residents will be obligated to participate in recycling, so the number of tons of trash being dumped is expected to decrease by as much as 30 percent.

The rationale behind the automated collection proposal is that the fewer tons that are dumped, the less the town will have to pay in tipping fees.

Budget Committee member Gerry Fleury, who offered a slideshow presentation of the benefits of the proposal during the Town Meeting, said the savings should be significant after the initial investment.

“We learned that, with any amount of effort at all, we should be able to reduce our costs of tippage by 30 percent,” Fleury said. “That is not a small amount.”

Each household that currently receives trash collection in Pembroke will be required to buy two new curbside trash containers – one for regular trash and one for recycling – at a total price tag of $104.

The automated system is also expected to improve neighborhood aesthetics as it will eliminate trash bags on the street. It will also shorten the amount of time it takes to complete a collection route, and cut down the number of people needed to collect trash, Fleury said.