Voters to be Given Look at Roof Rot, Other Maintenance Issues Before Town Meeting

A walk-about is being hosted at Winthrop Elementary School at 8 a.m. on Satuady to show some of the maintenance issues in the school district.

A School Committee subcommittee is hosting a "walk-about” and slideshow inside Winthrop Elementary School one hour before Saturday morning’s Town Meeting in Hamilton. The intent of the event, put on by the Facilities Working Group stating at 8 a.m., is to show firsthand the damage from deferred maintenance at the school and help voters see the current condition of the school and other maintenance issues in the school district that would be corrected by the proposed $2.075 million bond that will first go before voters at the Hamilton Town Meeting. The presentation will include a look at the rot in the Winthrop roof, the Cutler Elementary School roof, a new fire suppression system at the Buker Elementary School and other proposed repairs. …

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Jim Smith

1:14 am on Friday, October 19, 2012

Better look at our Water situation before we throw money into our school overrides ? What Jay Burnham stated on August 10th 2012 regarding our Water Supply. What lack of funding? 10 years of Proposition 2.5 overrides? Costing the taxpayers more than $45 million cumulatively over the past 12 years? That's not a lack of funding. That's a lack of accountability. We better think about bonds in order …   more ›

School Projects to go to First Vote at Saturday's Hamilton Town Meeting

Voters at Hamilton's Fall Town Meeting on Saturday will decide on whether to fund repairs to elementary school buildings.

Voters at two upcoming Town Meetings – starting this Saturday at 9 a.m. in Hamilton at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School – will decide whether to put $2 million in capital spending on the fall ballot. The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee has assembled a $4 million plan to address physical deficiencies in the schools, starting with two bonds totaling $2.075 million for major repairs to elementary schools. The Massachusetts School Building Authority has accepted repair of the Cutler Elementary School roof into its Accelerated Repair Program, which could result in reimbursement of 43.3 percent of the cost of $575,000. Because the MSBA requires that projects it subsidizes be bonded separately from those it does not, the District …

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15 New Trees to be Planted Along Railroad Ave. This Week

Downtown Hamilton streetscape improvement work is underway with the planting of 15 new trees.

The downtown streetscape work appoved at Hamilton Town Meeting in May is underway this week. By Friday, 15 trees will be planted along the sidewalk on Railroad Avenue. Workers this week have cut open holes in the cement sidewalk where the trees will go. Voters at Town Meeting approved $23,000 for downtown improvements - that included $15,000 to plant trees along Railroad Avenue. John Tomsaz, director of the Hamilton Department of Public Works, said the trees will all be in by Friday. The work also includes replacing the flower boxes in the median along Bay Road. Some landscaping has been done along Bay and Walnut roads, whoch is part of the project, Tomasz said.  

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Was Town Meeting Turnout Less Than Usual This Year?

Here's a look at the turnout rates for voters at the Annual Town Meetings in Hamilton and Wenham versus previous years.

Voter turnout at Hamilton Town Meeting and Wenham Town Meeting this spring were in line with most town meetings in the past five years, according to data from the town clerk's in both towns. Turnout has been around 5 or 6 percent for most town meetings, both special town meetings and annual town meeting, in Hamilton, according to data from Town Clerk Jane Wetson. This year it was 5 percent of the registered voters. In Wenham, turnout this spring was in line with voter turnout for the past three years - somewhere between 7 and 9 percent, according to data from Town Clerk Trudy Reid. The exception is February's Special Town Meeting that was called to approve a legislative petition for a liquor license at Wenham Tea House. Hamilton Wenham

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Anne Sweeney

1:48 pm on Saturday, October 27, 2012

The other reason why people do not attend Town Meeting is not due to a lack of interest. Speaking of Bullying as in the other thread. When people speak their mind or disagree, they are often booed, criticized or ostracized. Usually, town officials, town or local public employees attend these meetings, because it is in their interest to do so in two ways. Their job security, their promotion …   more ›

School Committee: 'Secret Negotiations' Helped Avoid Budget 'Food Fight'

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee ratified the fiscal 2013 budget number that was approved by Hamilton Town Meeting on Saturday.

The Hamilton-Wenham School Committee voted 7-1 Tuesday night to OK the 2013 budget that was approved by the Hamilton Town Meeting on Saturday The decision, though, came after a lengthy discussion on how "secret negotiations" before the meeting avoided what member Larry Swartz called “a war” that might have broken out in the high school auditorium. Several current and former members of the School Committee criticized the negotiations by three members – Chairman Alexa McCloughan, Vice Chairman Roger Kuebel and Swartz – which were kept from the other committee members prior to Saturday's Annual Town Meeting in Hamilton. However, most critics also said that the result of the "secret negotiations" was good for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional …

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Anne Sweeney

1:41 pm on Friday, May 18, 2012

HFD is correct and it is good to review and learn from our history, so it won't be repeated, moving forward in a "positive" manner. The political and economic forces shaping corruption, and being influenced by it, can vary greatly from one time and place to the next. While the new generation living within our towns over the past decade has brought new evidence to the debate and has clarified many…   more ›

Hamilton OKs $420K School Budget 'Giveback,' $5 Million in Water System Improvements and Sidewalk Study

Hamilton Town Meeting voters approved a school budget number with a "giveback" on Saturday morning, in addition to several other measures.

Hamilton Town Meeting voters approved a school budget with a “giveback” to taxpayers of $420,000 on Saturday morning. Hamilton’s share of that “giveback” is $286,000 and that was part of the budget number that voters supported while approving its $15.1 million share of the fiscal 2013 school budget. School Committee Vice-Chairman Roger Kuebel said the “giveback” number has the OK from three of the School Committee members – Chairman Alexa McCloughan and Larry Swartz in addition to him. The full committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Center School building. Finance Committee Chairman John McWane said he brought the number to Town Meeting after "11th hour" negotiations with some members of the School Committee. If …

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Anne Sweeney

1:08 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Yes Michelle, it's good to know that our little serfdom in Hamilton is alive and well. Which is why the shelves at Accord are always empty. As the old saying rings true, even today about the rich getting richer and the poor poorer. Our children graduate high school and Universities throughout our great Nation to enter a bleak job market. How peachy. $5 million might not be a drop in the bucket …   more ›

Live Updates From Hamilton Town Meeting on Saturday

Keep up to speed on the decisions Hamilton voters are making at the Annual Town Meeting on Saturday.

Hamilton-Wenham Patch will keep you up to date from Hamilton Annual Town Meeting on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m from Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School. The entire warrant, and the appendices, are attached to this story as PDFs.

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Anne Sweeney

2:14 pm on Saturday, May 12, 2012

Voting, NO, send a message to those who choose to dominate local governance. Maybe then they will go back and re-do, and do their due-diligence by and for the tax payers whom at some point if not already default on their home and family budgets. Where do they go ? There is no deficit spending for the home owner, just stark reality. By saying, NO, keeps budgets in line and keeps the town in line …   more ›

Hamilton Voters to Decide on Budget, Patton Gift and Water Infrastructure

The Annual Town Meeting in Hamilton starts at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Hamilton voters on Saturday morning will decide on the 2013 school and town budget, whether to accept the gift of the Patton estate and have their say on millionof dollars worth of improvements planned for the water infrastructure. The full warrant for the meeting, with a list of all 27 warrant articles, is attached to this article. Some of the artciles that are "not controversial" can be bundled together in a consent agenda in Article 1-3 that allows several of the artciles can all be voted at once. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the auditorium at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School. The $24.8 million town and school budget is Article 2-15. As part of that article, voters will decide whether to back the School Committee’s proposed …

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Anne Sweeney

2:32 pm on Sunday, May 13, 2012

@Jim, If reason prevailed relative to savings, we would be back at $13-$14 per thousand tax rate. To impose a tax rate like this during a recession is tantamount to an economic dictatorship of which the end result is economic slavery. Perverse taxation is unpatriotic and theft from the people. The people need to march on Hamilton Town Hall and Roll back those rates to sensible levels. Then they …   more ›

Citizen Group Revives Publication of Its Own Newspaper

The citizen group Enough is Enough has returned after a year off to publish its own newspaper.

After a year hiatus, the Hamilton-Wenham Free Press returned to mailboxes in the two towns last week. The 12-page newspaper is a production of the citizen group Enough is Enough. This was the third year the group published its own newspaper, with articles coming from its membership. Articles range in topic from addressing local government and Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District issues to a recipe. “We skipped last year,” said Bob Gray, a member of Enough is Enough’s steering committee and one of the newspaper’s four editors. The paper was first published in 2009 and again in 2010. It was started when Enough is Enough member Ed Howard, who owns an antique store in Essex, said something similar had been done in Essex. Gray said the …

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Jim Smith

12:17 pm on Sunday, May 6, 2012

Einstein once said that “the definition of insanity was to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” That is exactly what America has been doing for a century now. Unfortunately that is the only answer the liberals and President Obama have. President Obama’s 2012 campaign slogan is “forward!” Yes Mr. President, let’s keep moving “forward” with the same insane policies …   more ›