New Trash Plan To Launch in Early April, $1 'Small Bag' to be Sold in Hamilton

The new trash collection plan in the two towns is about a month away from a complete rollout, with now a choice of either a small or large bag for sale for extra trash in Hamilton.

The new trash collection program will kick off during the first week of April, Hamilton Selectmen were told on Monday night. The new trash and organics bins for every residence in the two towns were recently ordered. At one time, a mid-March launch date had been targeted to put the new bins to use. But to eliminate any possible last-minute snafus caused by delays in delivery and distribution, the program will roll out in April. “It’s looking like the first week of April it will launch,” Town Manager Michael Lombardo told the Board of Selectmen. The new program will introduce weekly curbside organics and single-stream recycling collection for every household in Hamilton and Wenham. In Wenham, weekly trash collection of one barrel will …

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Renee

1:23 pm on Friday, March 23, 2012

I too have a large family with small children. I would encourage you to write the selectmen your concern. It does not need to be long or eloquent. seletmen@hamiltonma.gov   more ›

Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: Oct. 25

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 25. Here are five things you need to know: 1. Weather: Another decent day is on tap for Tuesday, with the weather forecast calling for sun and temperatures near 60 but windy – with gusts up to 30 miles per hour. 2. Mullen property: The latest plan to develop the former Mullen property on Essex Street in Wenham will be presented on Tuesday morning. A Project Review Committee meeting will be held with the Board of Selectmen in attendance at 8 a.m. at Wenham Town Hall. 3. Personal Safety for Kids: Children can learn more about how to keep safe at a program on Tuesday afternoon hosted by the Hamilton Police Department and put on by the Community House. It is designed for children age 6-11 and costs $8 each and begins at …

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Hamilton Leaders Approve Biweekly Trash Pickup, Weekly Townwide Recycling and Organics

The much-debated change to the way trash and recycling are collected in Hamilton reached crescendo on Wednesday, where Selectmen voted 3-2 to switch to biweekly trash collection and weekly single stream recycling and organics collection.

Hamilton Selectmen voted 3-2 on Wednesday night to move to biweekly trash pickup, adding weekly organics and recycling too in a plan officials say could save more than $100,000 annually. Town Manager Michael Lombardo said it would take several months to implement the new collection system and would not be in place until at least February. The plan, which state officials say is one of the first of its kind in the state, grew out of a plan earlier this year to adopt a pay-as-you-throw trash fee program where each bag of trash would be collected for a fee. The New Plan Under the plan approved on Wednesday night, residents would all be provided with a trash barrel, recycling bin and curbside organics bin. Unlimited amounts of recyclable …

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Bill Bowler

12:08 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013

Any possible savings from the program will be more than offset by the selectmen's recent vote to maintain a stand alone emergency center. By their own reckoning this will result in additional annual spending of approximately $180,000. This does not include the foregone savings which would have inured from joining the regional ECO.   more ›

Wenham Selectmen Favor Town Meeting Vote on Trash Changes

At least two Wenham Selectmen said Tuesday that they think the changes being contemplated to trash collection go before Town Meeting voters this fall.

Two members of the Wenham Board of Selectmen said Tuesday that they think a proposal to make changes in trash collection should go to Town Meeting voters in November. Both Selectmen John Clemenzi and Patrick Wilson said that, while they support changes to the way trash and recyclable materials are collected, they favor a Town Meeting vote versus leaving the decision in the hands of the three-member Board of Selectmen. Now on the table for Selectmen from both Hamilton and Wenham is a change in trash collection that would include weekly single-stream recycling and organics collection and every other week collection of one “free” barrel included in taxes with the option of buying more bags. Currently, both towns have a “trash reduction …

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Letter to the Editor: Let the People Decide at Town Meeting

Letter writer Bruce Wadleigh of Hamilton says that voters should be able to decide at next spring's Annual Town Meeting whether the new trash collection plan should be put in place or not.

To the editor: I sure didn't like what they were talking about last night (at the Hamilton Board of Selectmen meeting). Everyone that I have talked to about the subject (trash disposal) wants to have the vote on it at the Town Meeting next spring in both towns. No one thinks that it should only be decided by the selectmen, town manager and administrator in both towns. It is a big change to go to one barrel every other week and most people don't know how they will be able to do it without being forced to buy those damn bags at yet another expense. The program we currently have has been in effect for about four years and we have yet to see any reduction in our taxes and now they are saying that they want to force us to change our behavior. …

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Latest Trash Plan Headed for a Final Vote

Selectmen in both towns are expected this week to review and discuss the latest trash collection plan that calls for one "free" trash bag every other week plus weekly recyclable and organics collection.

Editor's Note: This article has been corrected to note that the proposed program would allow one free barrel - not one free bag - every other week, the same amount that is "free" weekly right now. Additional bags could be purchased. A final vote on a new trash collection plan is scheduled for next week by the Boards of Selectmen in both towns. And that vote will be on a new scenario that calls for trash collection every other week combined with weekly recycling and organics collection. The weekly recyclable collection, under the plan, would be single-stream, meaning that all recyclable material would be collected in a single container and would not need to be sorted. It would also go in a 96-gallon cart that would be provided by the town …

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Ron Powell

7:38 pm on Tuesday, October 11, 2011

That really does not make any sense, "Sue." The "compromise" would leave everything as it is, except that residents would no longer have to separate glass, plastic, and paper recyclable materials, and would cut trash collection costs by at least $100,000 for both Towns. Also, it would make the curbside organic recycling program permanent, so residents would no longer need to compost in their …   more ›

Wenham Special Town Meeting a Go

The Wenham Selectmen voted unanimously to hold a separate Special Town Meeting slightly over two weeks after Hamilton.

The Wenham Special Town Meeting will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8 at the Buker Elementary School. The decision was made last week by the Board of Selectmen, after much discussion and feedback about whether to have a simultaneous meeting with Hamilton on Oct. 22. “We wanted to make sure items for the warrant will have enough time for public comment and not to rush through the process,” Martins said. Martins said the decision to hold the meeting on a weekday night also took into account feedback from residents who were shuffling schedules due to children’s sporting events schedules. Martins said Town Moderator Paul Weaver was on hand at last week's meeting to assist in running through logistics to determine how much time each warrant might take. …

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