A town project aimed at making major improvements at Jenney Pond could be affected by the Trump Administration’s move to dismantle parts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The work depends on a $10 million NOAA grant to build a herring bypass at the Jenney Pond dam, as well as a new bridge over the pond, road work, a sidewalk, a new sewer line, walking paths, and landscaping.
So far, there is no indication that the federal government will withhold any of the money but given the frenzied actions in Washington, D.C., there is reason for worry, especially since the work has been underway for months, including demolition of the bridge.
“There’s concern for all federal dollars right now,” David Gould, Plymouth’s director of energy and environment, told the Advisory and Finance Committee on Feb. 27.
“The project is designed as a whole,” Gould told the committee. “If we don’t get the federal money, we don’t have sufficient funds to award a contract, and therefore [the rest of the work] doesn’t happen.”
Just over $1 million of the grant was allocated for dredging that began in December. Gould said the town will seek reimbursement for the dredging of Jenney Pond within the next few weeks through the federal government portal. At that point, he said, the town will learn if the funding is there.
Federal grants require grantees to spend the money and provide receipts before reimbursing them, Gould explained.
Casey Kennedy, the town’s spokesperson, said Plymouth cannot request reimbursement from NOAA until after April 1, when it submits a report to the agency.
The funding would not normally be in question since there is already a contract for the grant. But NOAA has been in the sights of the Trump Administration and Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” with a new round of more than 1,000 planned layoffs, or 10 percent of the agency’s workforce, reported Wednesday. The first round of layoffs at the agency began last month.
Gould said that when the town puts the rest of the project out to bid, prior to signing a contract with the contractor, he hopes to work with the state’s Congressional delegation to make sure that the town will be reimbursed.
“This is going to sound a little odd because we have a contract, but I would like to have some additional reassurances that when we sign a contract and start spending that money, that we will in fact be reimbursed for the remaining $9 million that we’ll be expending,” Gould said.
The original dam was built in 1636, Gould said. It has been rebuilt many times over.
Gould said if the federal funding is cut off, the town would have to consider just repairing the dam, something he said is critical. That work is not covered by the grant. Town Meeting, which meets April 5, will be asked to approve borrowing $6.7 million for the repairs. The appropriation would have to pass by two-thirds vote, Lynne Barrett, Plymouth’s director of finance, told the committee.
Gould explained that the dam must be repaired in part because its current spillway would not withstand a 100-year storm. If Town Meeting does not fund the dam repair, he plans to work with the state Office of Dam Safety to address the problem.
“We don’t really have the option to just say that we’re not going to do the work to the dam structure,” Gould said.
If the town does not repair the dam, he said, the Office of Dam Safety would issue a notice of noncompliance and detail a timeframe for completing the work, with fines if deadlines are not met.
The entire Jenney Pond-Brewster Gardens project totals $18.2 million, with $10 million coming from NOAA and another $8.2 million from the town.
Town Meeting has already approved $1.5 million recommended by the Community Preservation Committee for trails downstream from the dam to Brewster Gardens. It must still decide whether to approve $6.7 million for the dam repair.
The Advisory and Finance Committee has already recommended funding the dam repair, by an 11-2 vote. The Select Board also recommended passage of the funding. by vote of 5-0 on Feb. 25. The project is item B1 in Article 3 of the April 5 Special Town Meeting warrant.
Another project that relies on federal reimbursement involves replacing two culverts in Morton Park, one over Town Brook and another over an unnamed brook.
Gould’s Department of Energy and Environment has obtained a $2 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration for that job by taking advantage of a program that funds culverts that make it easier for fish to swim up and down rivers that directly connect to the ocean.
The total cost of the culverts work is set at $5,383,500. The town would have to pay $3,383,500 if the $2 million federal grant is not revoked.
Both culverts are undersized in that they restrict the flow of the brooks.
“At some point, they need to be replaced,” Gould told the committee.
He hopes to start that project this fall if Town Meeting approves the funding.
The Advisory and Finance Committee approved recommending the project be funded by a vote of 13 to 0. The Select Board recommended funding by a vote of 5 to 0 on Feb. 25.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.