In Salem, a smaller beast roams streets

George Sands cleans a Salem sidewalk aboard the Madvac. (David Kamerman/Globe Staff)

SALEM - It looks like a golf cart. It sounds like a lawn mower. And it's able to suck trash out of hard-to-clean crevices between cobblestones and bricks.

Not every city can afford to buy a mobile cart that acts as a souped-up vacuum cleaner. But with Salem's economy driven by tourism - about 1 million people visit the city each year - officials decided the streets needed to be cleaner. Workers focused on the heavily traveled and hard- to-clean pedestrian mall on Essex Street, where cigarette butts, leaves, cans, and bottles nestle together each morning under benches. And, after some research, the city dipped into a $75,000 surplus recycling account and spent $43,000 last month to buy the new vacuum litter collector, the Madvac.

"The new Madvac unit and more focused cleaning and maintenance efforts in our downtown will help make sure the city is clean and welcoming to all visitors," said Mayor Kim Driscoll.

Besides Salem, Madvacs are on the streets of Chelsea, Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge.

The all-wheel Madvac's main tools are two 12-foot hoses that suck litter into a 35-gallon reusable bag that's emptied several times a day. One hose can be operated by hand while driving, using a hydraulic lift to raise and lower the suction tube. The other hose can be carried several feet to clean behind benches. The vehicle can go 16 miles per hour, traverse stairs and curbs, and drive on grass while sucking up trash.

Last month, George Sands was appointed the city's Madvac man. At 55, he has spent 21 years plowing snow and cleaning streets, and calls his new assignment a welcome challenge. Each weekday morning at 7 he arrives at the pedestrian mall - which is festooned with signs advertising Halloween-oriented destinations such as The True Story of Lizzie Borden attraction - and begins cleaning.

His philosophy? Follow the trash.

"Litter is what I look for," said Sands. "I'm never done."

Sands usually spends three hours each morning at the pedestrian walkway, and then another hour cleaning the city's parking lots and downtown sidewalks. In the afternoon, he returns to the mall with a hand bucket and trash picker to search for more leaves, bottles, and butts.

On a recent day, Sands used the Madvac around a fountain in front of the Peabody Essex Museum and near a clothing-vendor cart operated by Elle Robey.

"At first I was wondering what it was, and then I saw it in action," said Robey. "I thought it was cool, and said, 'How do I get it over to my yard so my husband doesn't have to clean the yard?' "

Steven Rosenberg can be reached at srosenberg@globe.com.