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Martin Environmental Services officially took over residential sanitation services from Troup County on Saturday. Owner Brandon Hurst said it was an overall positive weekend, despite a few hiccups.

Hurst said they had some people, including those from outside Troup County, coming to dump their garbage that were not aware of the change.

“We had extra people onsite so we could take the time to explain things to people that were unaware,” Hurst said.

“It was busy,” he said. “We just allowed them to sign up there on site, and we didn’t charge them for dumping that day.”

“We had a few technology hiccups with tablets overheating but solved those pretty quickly,” Hurst said, noting the overheating issues were resolved by Sunday.

“A lot of the sites were not manned, so from an infrastructure standpoint, they’re not really built to have people on them. You’ve got the heat. You’ve got nowhere for shade and things of that nature, so you’ve got to keep the technology equipment cooler,” Hurst said.

Hurst said the convenience center sites were busy over the weekend, especially Loyd-Tatum. The sites were a lot slower as of Monday, he said.

Going from 12 convenience centers down to four is obviously going to cause the sites to be busier, Hurst said.

“Over the last month and a half, people have been trying to unload everything they possibly could for free,” Hurst said.

Hurst said they had been helping the county haul off the trash from some of the sites that are closing and had emptied the ones they are taking over (Knott Road, Loyd-Tatum, Hillcrest and the Work Camp) on Friday. By nightfall, after the landfill closed, they were all full again.

“The next morning, we had our team come in, and we completely emptied everything at Lloyd-Tatum and got it ready to go by the time the gates opened,” Hurst said. “I’m pretty proud of our team. They have all stepped up,” he said.

Hurst said Martin has had an influx of customer signups over the last week.

“In the last week, we have had over 2,000 applications after C&C released a letter to its customers letting them know June 30 would be their last day,” Hurst said. “Our team has worked through the weekend and will continue through the holiday and after to get everyone set up. It may take up to seven days to get your can due to the influx of applications.”

The convenience centers will not be open on July 4 but not because of the holiday. Hurst said the sites are only open Friday through Monday. The curbside pickup routes will still run though, so if Tuesday is your trash day, make sure your trash bin is out by 6 a.m.