TOPSFIELD - A bill to grant Gil's Grocery a license to sell beer and wine is weaving its way around Beacon Hill: It passed in the House and was close to passage in the Senate last night.

The bill, a home rule petition, would give James Gilford and his Gil's Grocery at 36 Main St. the ability to apply for a liquor license to sell malt beverages and wine in the town, which has been dry for more than 70 years.

The measure had to be amended slightly to prevent the opening of a package store on Main Street, according to the office of state Rep Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers. The changes require beer and wine sales be incidental to food sales.

"I'm pleased that we have been able to resolve it, both at the local level and at the state level," Speliotis said in a voice mail message. "It's been amended properly to reflect the needs of the community and it's on its way."

Speliotis said yesterday the bill could be on the governor's desk in a matter of weeks, after it went to a third reading in the Senate yesterday.

The office of Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry, D-Peabody, said the bill is on his "radar screen" and it could pass as soon as last night.

"I expect the bill not to take too much longer," Speliotis said. "It's a procedural process but it takes time to get through the committees to make sure each committee reviews it properly."

For six years, the town has been struggling to allow beer and wine sales as a way to spur economic activity downtown.

In 2003, state lawmakers allowed beer and wine sales to commence, but it took years to write the regulations. Last year, selectmen granted the town's sole license for beer and wine sales in a store to the proposed New Meadows Market LLC. That market has yet to open.

Out of concern for Gilford, voters at special town meeting approved a second license for Gil's.

This bill for the second license ground to a halt on Beacon Hill until Speliotis managed to insert language into it that named Gilford as the sole recipient, a requirement for it to move through a key committee. Unlike the first license for New Meadows, this second license cannot be sold or transferred.

"As I've said all along, I've been hopeful that we can get it to the governor's desk by the end of the month," Speliotis said. "It may take a little longer than that ... Hopefully we will be able to do that. If it takes a week or two longer, I don't think it's a crisis. The time frame is not months away, it's really weeks."