Birgitta Kuehn, an at-times embattled member of the Plymouth Planning Board, has resigned, following a move to Chicago. Kuehn broke the news to the board Wednesday night via Zoom and submitted her resignation to Town Clerk Kelly McElreath on Thursday. Kuehn served on the board for five years. She was chair until fellow board members […]
Author Archives: Fred Thys - Independent Staff
Posted inGovernment
Restaurant’s pitch for outdoor music denied after heated exchange between owner and Select Board member
Erin Murphy was hoping to add amplified outdoor music to the menu for three more nights this summer at her “modern Baja cuisine” restaurant. Instead, she found herself fighting back tears as the Select Board Tuesday denied her request during a contentious 30-minute exchange that mostly pitted her against board member Charlie Bletzer. Murphy, the […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Holtec doesn’t need a permit to evaporate radioactive water from Pilgrim plant
The state says Holtec Decommissioning International, the company that is disassembling the Pilgrim plant site in Manomet, does not need a permit to evaporate radioactive water from the former nuclear power station. That determination – made in a July 18 letter to Holtec from Seth Pickering, deputy regional director of the Bureau of Air and […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
State won’t let Holtec dump radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay
The state has denied Holtec Decommissioning International permission to dump up to 1.1 million gallons of treated radioactive wastewater from the former Pilgrim nuclear power station into Cape Cod Bay. Holtec is decommissioning the Pilgrim plant in Manomet, which stopped generating electricity in 2019. As part of its plan, the New Jersey-based company asked the […]
Posted inCulture
Neither rain nor tent-assembling could deter these campers
A driving rain did not dampen the enthusiasm as rangers eagerly taught families how to set up camp last weekend at Myles Standish State Forest, marking the return of a program that began in 2008, but was put on hold for several years because of the pandemic. “We want families to become confident and skilled […]
Posted inGovernment
Makepeace proposal to add more higher priced homes at Redbrook divides Planning Board
Developer A.D. Makepeace wants to build 113 more market-rate-priced homes at its Redbrook housing development in South Plymouth, a proposal that is not sitting well with some Planning Board members. The company maintains that a Plymouth bylaw allows it to build more higher priced homes even though its agreement with the town when the massive […]
Posted inGovernment
Town’s director of inspectional services resigns
Nick Mayo, Plymouth’s director of inspectional services, handed in his resignation Monday, a departure that comes amid an unprecedented building boom. Town Manager Derek Brindisi declined to give a reason for Mayo’s unexpected resignation. “That’s a question for him,” he said. Mayo did not immediately respond to a voice mail requesting comment on why he […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
Five months later, former employees of Plymouth man’s staffing company are still waiting for back pay
Five months after the state attorney general fined his former employer $2.4 million for violating labor laws, Doug Laufer has yet to be paid the back wages he was promised. In February, Attorney General Andrea Campbell fined Concierge Services, a staffing company owned by a Plymouth man. A month later, the owner, Gregory Doyle, […]
Posted inGovernment
Citing personal reasons, Fornaciari steps down from Community Preservation Committee
Bill Fornaciari’s tenure as chair of the Community Preservation Committee was a short one – just two weeks. Fornaciari has stepped down from his position, and the board, citing unforeseen personal reasons. In an email to Town Clerk Kelly McElreath, Fornaciari said his resignation was effective June 27. The move also means he is no […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
Holtec disputes anonymous claim that a worker was exposed to excess radiation at Pilgrim site
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it has no evidence that workers at the shuttered Pilgrim nuclear power plant, which is in the long process of being decommissioned, were overexposed to radiation, despite a whistleblower’s claim made in a recent anonymous letter to state officials. In an email to the Independent, NRC spokesperson Neil Sheehan said […]