Restaurants connected to the town’s sewer system have until Dec. 31 to install expensive new grease traps, and some business owners are not happy about it. The requirement – aimed at preventing food byproducts and waste from clogging pipes – mainly affects restaurants located in the downtown, waterfront, and North Plymouth areas. Restaurants have known […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inBusiness
Downtown bar was serving alcohol without liability insurance
New World Tavern, one of downtown’s best-known venues, has been shuttered for a week after the Select Board suspended its liquor license on Dec. 10. The bar and restaurant had been serving alcohol, despite not having liquor liability insurance in place as required by law. A handwritten sign on the Main Street business’s door Monday […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Jenney Pond dredging marks the start of a major restoration effort
Dredging of Jenney Pond is underway, the first step in the construction of a fishway bypass around Plimoth Grist Mill. The $2.1 million initial part of the project is using $1.1 million of a $10 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and another $1 million in Community Preservation funds signed off on […]
Posted inGovernment
Select Board doesn’t want to pay for an outside audit of the over-budget Oak Street project
Select Board members oppose ordering a construction audit of the conversion of the former Oak Street elementary school into affordable housing, a project that was plagued by major cost overruns. The work has added up to $1.2 million for three one-bedroom apartments to house seniors, veterans, or disabled people – more than twice the original […]
Posted inGovernment
Two seats on the Planning Board have been open for months. Why hasn’t anyone applied to fill them?
A critical town board has been operating with two vacancies since the summer – and no one has applied to fill either seat. The Planning Board, which normally has five members and one associate member, makes recommendations on whether development projects should proceed and if so, under what conditions. Among the issues it has weighed […]
Posted inBusiness
This ‘Saturday is like our Christmas’
For some small businesses in Plymouth, tomorrow is the most important day of the year. “Saturday [after Thanksgiving] is like our Christmas,” Pam Smith told the Select Board earlier this month. “It’s our busiest day of the entire year.” Smith, co-owner of Locally Yours, a retail shop selling cozy hometown apparel, gifts, and home décor, […]
Posted inGovernment
No decision on proposed livestock regulations as debate continues
The Plymouth Agricultural Commission is continuing talks with the town’s Public Health department over proposed regulations that would regulate the keeping of livestock – such as goats, chickens, and cows – after a state animal health official said that the scope of any new rules would have to be limited. Plymouth’s backyard farmers have bristled […]
Posted inGovernment
Why did it cost the town $1.2 million to build three tiny apartments on Oak Street?
The conversion of the former Oak Street elementary school into affordable housing – a project plagued by a string of cost overruns – appears to be headed for a construction audit. The work has totaled nearly $1.2 million for three small apartments, much more than the $475,000 in Community Preservation funds Town Meeting initially approved […]
Posted inCulture
‘It’s just an amazing historic moment’
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey Tuesday issued an executive order officially recognizing Plymouth’s Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe. “(S)ince well before the arrival of the Mayflower, the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe has continuously inhabited lands within the borders of what is now Massachusetts, with ancestral homelands stretching from the Plymouth area to the upper reaches of Cape […]
Posted inGovernment
Backyard farmers say proposed livestock rules are too strict
Dan Green worries that he might have to get rid of some of his chickens. He and other members of the Plymouth Agricultural Commission are fighting proposed regulations from the Plymouth Public Health Division that would apply to non-commercial agricultural operations such as raising chickens and keeping goats. The proposed regulations would limit the size […]