Health Officials Plan Spring Reminder About Flies in Trash

The Hamilton Board of health plan a mailing this spring to reminder residents about the chance of maggots and flies in their trash.

Keeping trash for up to two weeks could cause greater occurrences of flies and maggots, according to a study done in Spokane, Wash. And based on that data, the Hamilton Board of Health decided Wednesday it plans to launch a public education campaign this spring to alert residents of the possibility of flies and maggots in the trash and offer tips to avoid it. "They did find a greater incidence of flies," said Board of Health Chairman Lindle Willnow said about the study from out west. The topic of the health concern of trash collection every other week had been on the board's agenda last fall but had been tabled as the board and Health Department grappled with mosquitoes infected with Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile Virus and the …

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Al Phillips

1:19 pm on Sunday, February 3, 2013

Are you kidding? Learn how to recycle and there will be no problem. My trash is never full at every two weeks cause I recycle most of my trash and I have three kids. Al   more ›

Patch Facts

Five Things to Know on Jan. 16: Signups Open for Winter Library Programs

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

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 16. Here are five things you need to know in Hamilton and Wenham:  1. Snow: Snow dominates the weather forecast on Wednesday with temperatures in the 30s. 2. Winter Activities: Signups start on Wednesday for all winter story times and programs at Hamilton-Wenham Library, including programs such as Baby Bookworms, Music & Movement, League of Superheroes and World of Wizarding. Signups must be made in person at the library. 3. State of the State: Gov. Deval Patrick will deliver the State of the Commonwealth address on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. The speech from the Statehouse, will be carried by most major local television stations, including channels 4, 5 and 7 and NECN. 4. Personnel Board: The Wenham Board of …

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Pay Per Bag 'Supplement' Now Part of Hamilton Trash Plan

Hamilton residents will now be able to pay for trash pickup on the "off" week under the new trash pickup plan expected to be rolled out in Hamilton in March.

Changes have been to the new trash collection plan in Hamilton by “supplementing” the original proposal by allowing residents to pay for trash collection on weeks when the town doesn’t do it for “free.” The new trash collection program, for short it has been called SMART – Saving Money and Reducing Trash – was approved in October. Selectmen voted to move to unlimited weekly recycling and organics collection and biweekly collection of up to one barrel of trash per residence. Extra bags would cost money. The program, which is expected to go into place in March, is designed to increase the recycling and organic compost rate – and thereby decrease the amount of trash – to reduce town costs. The original plan also counted on reduced collection …

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Michelle Bailey

9:51 pm on Sunday, December 11, 2011

Indeed a good question about the Board of Health. Were they ever consulted? Did they ever attend a BOS meeting to make a recommendation? Where have they been?   more ›

Selectmen to Consider Changes to Hamilton's Biweekly Trash Collection Plan

The Hamilton Board of Selectmen plan to consider "supplement" its new biweekly trash collection plan with a pay-per-bag collection system on the "off" week.

Trash pick-up – for a fee – on the “off” week is one of the changes to Hamilton’s newest trash collection plan that will be on the table for Hamilton Selectmen on Monday night. in October, the Board of Selectmen, in a 3-2 vote, implemented changes to the way the town will collect trash, recycling and organics in a plan that’s known as SMART – saving money and reducing trash. The plan adds single stream weekly recycling collection plus weekly organics collections but cuts trash collection back to one barrel biweekly. It would replace the existing collection system, where each household gets to throw out one trash barrel per week included in their taxes and pay a per-bag fee for additional trash, in addition to biweekly recycling and several…

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Robert Gates

4:04 pm on Thursday, December 8, 2011

Jack, point well taken. If recyclable collection is limitless and "free" with both plans that certainly is level service. And that is probably why the increased frequency of collection is not expected to increase recycling rates that much. Single stream recycling is estimated to increase the recycling rate by 5 percent (because it will make it easier) so the weekly recycling impact seems like it …   more ›

Selectmen: Trash Revote Not Imminent As Petition Circulates

The Hamilton Board of Selectmen do not plan to discuss the new trash collection program when it holds a work session on Monday night.

Two of the Hamilton selectmen who voted in support of the town’s new trash program say that a revote on the move is not imminent. Board of Selectmen Chairman Jennifer Scuteri and Selectman Marc Johnson, the board member heading up the town’s new trash program, both said in recent days that plans are moving ahead to roll it out by March. The new program, that been dubbed the SMART trash program – which stands for Saving Money and Reducing Trash – involves weekly pickup of recyclable materials and organics and biweekly trash collection of one barrel of trash at no additional charge. The program is designed to save the town money and reduce trash while increasing the amount of waste that is recycled and goes into the bins for organics, which …

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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 ›