Let’s start with a primer on the mechanics of Plymouth’s Town Meeting. Each spring and fall, it holds sessions to decide much of the direction of the community, including how tax dollars are spent. This fall’s town meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 19, in the Plymouth North High School auditorium, starting at 8 a.m. […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inGovernment
Proposal for affordable apartments on South St. appears dead
Developer Rick Vayo says he won’t move ahead with plans to seek $3.2 million in town funding for an affordable housing project on South Street after the Planning Board on Wednesday “shot down” his proposal. Vayo, a prolific builder known for numerous high-profile developments around town, wanted to build 24 one-bedroom apartments at below- […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
The state has denied Holtec permission to dump radioactive water into the ocean, but the company’s opponents aren’t letting up
The Association to Preserve Cape Cod and the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, along with state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, held a press conference at Plymouth Rock Wednesday to announce their opposition to the release of 1.1 million gallons of treated radioactive wastewater from the Pilgrim nuclear power plant. In July, the state Department of Environmental […]
Posted inBusiness
Neighbors sound off about South St. apartment project
Developer Rick Vayo’s proposal to build 24 one-bedroom apartments classified as affordable across from the library on South Street ran into opposition from speakers at a Planning Board meeting Wednesday night. Twenty-one neighbors and other Plymouth residents spoke at the meeting, all of them in opposition to the plan, which already has support from four […]
Posted inEducation
‘We saw no signs of anything’
Pamela and David Murphy sit at a table in the dining room of their Manomet home. On the mantel, and above it, are photos and a striking pencil drawing of their son, Matt, including one with his dog, Willy. The gentle giant rottweiler died the year before Matt took his own life at age 20. […]
Posted inCulture
$6.2m Pilgrim Hall project will restore precious artwork, replace roof
Pilgrim Hall, one of the oldest museums in the country, is marking its bicentennial with a $6.2 million renovation project that got underway earlier this month. The project is focused on restoring two massive historical paintings and replacing the 200-year-old building’s roof. Because the roof replacement also entails interior work, certain precautions had to be […]
Posted inGovernment
School Committee acknowledges Wampanoag people were here first
The Plymouth School Committee this week unanimously passed a resolution acknowledging that the Wampanoag were the first people to live here. The resolution, known as a land acknowledgement, will be read before every School Committee meeting going forward. In other areas of town government, however, a move to adopt a similar resolution has been controversial. […]
Posted inGovernment
Select Board OK’s spending another $140,000 on Oak St. project despite concerns about cost overruns
A divided Select Board Tuesday night approved spending $140,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money to finish the transformation of the former Oak Street elementary school into three affordable apartments. The work, which was originally budgeted at under a half million dollars, has more than doubled to $1,168,000. The once-modest project has attracted massive interest […]
Posted inSports
Team effort: A campaign is underway to let Plymouth North football games kick off after dark, despite EEE threat
Mosquitoes are not deterring a determined group of Plymouth North High School students and parents from trying to persuade town officials to bring back Friday night football. They’re calling for an exception to the closure of parks and fields from dusk to dawn to allow home games to start at 7 p.m. instead of 4 […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Spraying for mosquitoes continues by ground as EEE threat remains high
Nighttime aerial insecticide spraying for adult mosquitoes in Plymouth has stopped – at least for now – according to the state Department of Agricultural Resources, but ground spraying is ongoing. Aircraft sprayed most of Plymouth away from the coast on the night of Aug. 27 but have not done so since. “No aerial spraying occurred […]