A South Portland city worker faces termination for his role in a rollover accident that demolished one of the city’s two high-tech garbage trucks that cost a total of $360,000.

South Portland Public Works Director Dana Anderson said the 2005 trash truck, which has a robotic arm and rear-view camera, was totaled in the April 11 crash.

Jon Talbot, a substitute driver with a conditional trucker’s license, cracked his vertebrae and was pinned inside the cab for more than an hour after the truck tipped over as he turned a corner off Highland Avenue. No other vehicle was involved.

The city collected $130,000 from its insurer for the vehicle, which cost $183,000 when it was purchased, said Finance Director Robert Coombs. The lower price reflects depreciation of vehicle’s value, according to Mayor Claude Morgan.

More than half of the insurance money was used to pay off the debt on the vehicle, Coombs said. The remainder will go toward a new garbage truck.

Talbot, 33, has been placed on administrative leave since returning to his job as a full-time laborer. He faces a termination hearing before Acting City Manager James Gailey, according to city documents. Talbot said no date for his hearing had been set, though he anticipated it could be held as soon as this week.

Complicating the case is Talbot’s personal driving record as a habitual offender that led to the revocation of his driver’s license in 2004, and a disagreement over driver training between the city and the union representing public works employees.

Anderson contends that excessive speed and poor judgment by Talbot led to the crash, according to city documents. Anderson declined to discuss Talbot’s case, citing confidentiality rules. He said all the drivers have commercial drivers’ licenses.

Talbot argues that he was inexperienced and not trained properly. “I’m not denying I made a mistake, but it was an accident,” said Talbot, who was filling in for a garbage truck driver on sick leave when the accident occurred.

“I only had my commercial license for five months and was trained for one day to drive a trash truck that is very top heavy when it’s full,” Talbot said. “There’s a lot to think about when driving these trucks.”

The trucks, which have a driver-operated claw, are a one-person operation.

South Portland police issued Talbot a summons for “imprudent speed.” Although he was driving under the 30 mph limit, Talbot said he was cited for going too fast when he tried to turn on to Plymouth Road.

Anderson said he was thankful there were no other cars or pedestrians around when the crash happened. “We preach safety every day, but a lot of it comes down to individual common sense,” he said.

Anderson said a state inspection immediately after the crash found no mechanical problems with the truck. No alcohol or drugs were involved in the accident.

Anderson said the public works department ensures all its drivers are properly licensed by the state and trained to handle various city vehicles.

Talbot was awarded a commercial vehicle license on Nov. 2, 2006, but was restricted to driving during work hours, by order of the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

In 2004, Talbot’s driving privileges were revoked for three years, after he was cited for several traffic violations dating back to 2001. They included speeding, running a stop sign and operating with a suspended license, according to Robert O’Connell, director of Driver License Services for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

After 18 months of the three-year revocation, Talbot was eligible by law to apply for a work-restricted license that allows habitual offenders to drive to and from work, or drive on the job.

“There is nothing in the regulations that prevents someone with his type of record from obtaining his trucker’s license,” O’Connell said.

In 2006, Talbot trained to become a commercial truck driver, and received a conditional commercial vehicle license to drive at work for the city of South Portland.

His employer had to co-sign the written petition to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles requesting the work-restricted license.

In 2006, Talbot trained to become a commercial truck driver. He received a conditional commercial vehicle license from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles that allowed him to drive as part of his job with the city of South Portland.

“I learned from my past mistakes and was working steadily to get ahead and try to get my life back where it belongs,” said Talbot, who lives in Westbrook. “I’m newly engaged and trying to give my kids a better life.”

Talbot also helped out driving the snow plows and dump trucks that salt and sand the roads, when extra workers were needed.

Last spring, he was tapped to drive one of the automated garbage trucks, after the regular driver was injured in an unrelated accident, he said.

Talbot considered driving the trash truck an opportunity to move up the ranks in the public works department.

Talbot said driving the trash trucks and other city vehicles pays more money than working as a laborer, a job he has held full time since August 2006. Prior to that, he was a temporary worker with the city for two years.

Talbot had been on the trash route for seven weeks when the accident occurred, he said.

Carole Jellison and her husband, Walter, were driving behind Talbot’s truck on Highland Avenue when it turned on to Plymouth Road and flipped over.

“When he took the left, he seemed to speed up a little and hit a crown in the road,” Jellison said. “It all happened so fast. You know those trucks are top heavy, and it just tipped over. We pulled off the road and called 911.”

Talbot believes his own inexperience and a lack of training by the city contributed to the crash. Before he started driving the garbage truck, Talbot said, another driver showed him how to work the controls and accompanied him on the route for one day.

“I was just trying to better myself. Firing me is a drastic step for making one mistake,” said Talbot, whose driving privileges were fully restored by the Motor Vehicles bureau on May 30, 2007.

The union that represents public works employees seems to agree with Talbot.

The local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is trying to work with the city to improve city training for truck drivers.

“Driver training is an ongoing issue we have with the city,” said Bob Sevigny, the chairman of the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “Safety is a major concern.”

The union has particular concerns with the two automated trash vehicles. The union’s position is that the unusual trucks require specialized training. The purchase enabled the city to reduce trash pickup staff from six full-time workers to two drivers who operate the trucks and the claws.

Anderson said he is satisfied with the training and state licensing that the city’s 15 or 16 licensed truck drivers currently receive. “They cannot drive without passing the state written exam and road test,” he said.

Anderson said the drivers also get training on city vehicles, and are encouraged to take “dry runs” to develop a level of comfort and confidence in vehicles.

He added that the state Department of Transportation conducts a periodic safe roads program that measures drivers on efficiency and ability.

The city’s second automated trash truck operates fine, other than requiring routine repairs and maintenance. There have been no other accidents reported with trash vehicles, Anderson said.

Until the city replaces the damaged truck, it will use an old garbage truck retrofitted with a lift to handle weekly trash pickup.

The lift enables the truck to pick up the large plastic trash bins residents were given for automated trash collection. They are too big for workers to lift and haul by hand.

“Residents don’t use trash bags anymore,” said Coombs. “So the workers need to wheel over the trash bins and attach them to the lift.”

The plan is to hire temporary workers to fill the jobs, at a cost of $900 per week, benefits included. In the meantime, city workers are being shifted from other duties to handle the manual trash pickup.

“We are pulling these guys away from other jobs – from sweeping or paving,” Coombs said.