A move to toss out Plymouth’s Town Meeting form of government – one critics call antiquated and inefficient – is in the works, renewing an effort that’s failed at least twice since the turn of the century. The latest attempt surfaced at Tuesday’s joint meeting of the Select Board, Planning Board, and Plymouth Foundation called […]
Category: Government
Posted inGovernment
As budget crisis looms, Select Board won’t back significant cuts
Under fire for suggesting last-minute cuts to the town budget, Select Board members voted to back off on a proposal to slash $2.5 million in spending next year. Instead, the board on Tuesday recommended adopting far more modest cuts totaling $28,047, including $10,000 from the town manager’s office, $2,550 from human resources and $15,497 from […]
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Select Board asks for trimmed budget to offset rising healthcare costs
Select Board members voted unanimously on Friday to instruct Town Manager Derek Brindisi to come up with $2.5 million in proposed budget cuts to consider at its Tuesday night meeting. In a unanimous vote on Friday, board members asked for the alternative budget proposal after listening to dire predictions about the town’s fiscal future. The […]
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New hurdle emerges in Pulte land deal
A controversial proposal to develop a 163-unit affordable condominium complex near the North Plymouth waterfront may have hit another roadblock last week over allegations the sellers have been quietly maneuvering to change the terms of the land sale. It’s the latest skirmish in a long battle between Plymouth officials and developer Pulte Homes of New […]
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Residents turn out in force to debate immigration policy
In a marathon five-hour session Tuesday night before a rare standing-room-only crowd at Town Hall, the Select Board considered a policy to further restrict town officials from participating in federal actions against any undocumented residents. In the end, the board voted unanimously not to change the policies after Police Chief Dana Flynn detailed restrictions already […]
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Plymouth needs more commercial development. Bureaucracy has kept it to a trickle.
As a gloomy fiscal outlook descends on Town Hall, there’s added urgency to bolster local revenue to avoid layoffs, service cuts, or a Proposition 2 ½ override. Growing the commercial sector is not a new idea, but it has not been Plymouth’s strong suit for decades. Most of the growth here over the past 25 […]
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Select Board rejects proposal that could help rein in healthcare costs
By a 3-2 vote, the Select Board has decided not to put a proposal before Town Meeting that could address one of Plymouth’s costliest expenses at a time when it faces a budget crunch, according to the board member who brought it up. Town employees currently pay for 30 percent of their health insurance premiums. […]
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Select Board won’t support e-bike regulations
Plymouth electric bike riders can keep cycling freely after the Select Board Tuesday rejected proposed regulations that would have set conditions on the bikes’ use. The board voted 3-2 against submitting an e-bike bylaw to spring Town Meeting — even after proponents offered a watered-down version of the original measure. That means rules governing their […]
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Is Plymouth on the brink of a fiscal crisis?
Whenever discussion of a budget includes the mention of potential layoffs and a tax override, alarm bells sound. That’s what happened during Tuesday’s Select Board meeting, where members and Town Manager Derek Brindisi raised the specter of a Proposition 2 1/2 override and layoffs within one or two years unless the town can better control […]
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At North Plymouth meeting, residents decry ICE tactics
Opinions on encounters between North Plymouth residents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents dominated an emotionally charged Select Board session at Cold Spring Elementary School Tuesday evening. In all, 18 residents spoke about whether the board should take a formal position in response to ICE detentions of immigrants, with most of them decrying the […]