A Look Back at 5 Top Local Stories Last Week

Each Sunday, Hamilton-Wenham Patch takes a look back at the week in local news. Here’s a look at some of the top stories on the two towns in the past week.

The Wenham War Memorial Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning to discuss a new design – a design that neither the joint building committee nor Historical District Commission favors.

Both committees last week – that the design is too short and wide and few liked having an eagle and globe at the top of the monument.

The War Memorial Committee Tuesday sent its design team back to their computers to redesign the proposed veterans monument being planned for the old Car Barn lot across the street from the .

In an effort to compromise with those town committees opposed to its earlier designs, the committee asked the design team to make the eagle a foot smaller and appear less dominating. The globe will likely have a bronze patina instead of stainless steel, which critics thought looked "too modern."

But the committee, under pressure from other town committees to make the monument look more like the Civil War Memorial, balked at reducing the size of the eagle and globe significantly.

“We don't want an eagle sitting on a golf ball,” said John Perkins, a member of the committee.

3.

A proposed bylaw that would allow new, cottage-style neighborhoods in Hamilton won't be brought to Town Meeting until next spring, members of the Planning Board decided last week.

For several months the board has been working with developer Dan Gainsborough, . The board wanted to determine if similar housing might be suitable for Hamilton.

But Gainsborough's model requires that the housing development, which is designed to be environmentally sensitive, would be within walking distance of the and downtown shops.

The board , but did not want to limit the sites to ones near the train station.

4.

Approximately 30 feet of Chebacco Road alongside Beck Pond (just across from the entrance) will undergo emergency repairs. Portions of the road have been eroding and crumbling into the water, which is bordered by vegetative wetlands.

Hamilton Director John Tomasz reported an Emergency Order was signed last week by the Town’s Conservation Commission agent, Jim Hankin upon completion of a site visit.

5.

Steve Tam, captain of the basketball team, is having a hectic summer, balancing his studies with a summer basketball league, training hard for next season.

Tam and his team had a hugely successful season last year, , going 16-4 in the Cape Ann League. .

During the summer, Tam plays in a local league set in Danvers that features two games a week, with over 200 teams taking part in the league that includes some private schools as well as the usual Cape Ann League opponents. The league runs through the end of this week.