Plymouth Town Meeting members have a lot of business to attend to when they gather Saturday morning at Plymouth North High School.
Among the issues they will decide starting at 8 a.m. are whether guns should be allowed in town buildings and grounds, whether money should be set to buy land around the former nuclear power plant, whether to rezone a gravel plant property to possibly make way for a retailer such as Costco, and whether to fund the reconstruction of the dam at Jenney Pond.
Town Meeting is Plymouth’s Legislature, with 162 elected members. It is overseen by longtime town moderator Steve Triffletti, who only votes in the event of a tie.
Each of Plymouth’s 18 voting precincts elects nine members to three-year terms. Those terms are staggered so that three members from each precinct are elected in May’s annual town election.
The public can attend Town Meeting in person. It will also be streamed live by The Local Seen. Anyone can speak, including non-residents, but they must wait until after Town Meeting members have spoken on a particular agenda item.
If all business is not conducted on April 5 because of time constraints, the meeting will be extended to the evening of April 7.
Spring Town Meeting is really two town meetings in one. The Annual Spring Town Meeting is prescribed by the town charter and must be held the first Saturday in April. But the Select Board can also convene a Special Annual Town Meeting at any time, usually to deal with articles that did not meet the deadline for the Annual Town Meeting.
Plymouth is the only town to have hybrid representative town meeting, said Triffletti. He urged people to show up early, either in person or online, as the order in which articles are taken up can be changed by a two-thirds vote, and residents risk missing votes on issues critical to them if they rely on the published order for the special meeting and the annual meeting.
The two warrants contain a total of 41 articles, which are the items approved by the Select Board for discussion and votes.
Here are summaries of some of the most significant articles:
Special Spring Annual Town Meeting Article 3 Item B1: Jenney Pond Dam
The Department of Energy and Environment wants the town to borrow $6.7 million to fund a repair project for the Jenney Pond dam. The work would include removing and repairing the road that goes over the dam, along with the curbing and sidewalk. The project will also include signage, trees, light poles, erosion controls, water control systems, and provide temporary road access to vehicles during the work.
Town Meeting must approve the appropriation by a two-thirds vote for it to pass. The project is part of an $18.2 million plan to restore Jenney Pond and the trails from there through Brewster Gardens to make the area more climate resilient. Town Meeting has already approved $1.5 million recommended by the Community Preservation Committee for trails downstream from the dam to Brewster Gardens.
The town is waiting to find out if the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration honors a $10 million contract on a grant it awarded 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. The grant does not cover the dam repair, but it does cover dredging the pond and removing and replacing the bridge, work that has been underway for months.
So far, it looks like NOAA will make good on the grant. Casey Kennedy, the town’s communications coordinator, said NOAA on Wednesday reimbursed the town for the first $1.1 million spent on dredging the pond.
The dam was built in 1636 and has been rebuilt many times since.
David Gould, director of energy and environment, told the Advisory and Finance Committee that if the Trump Administration does not come through on the remainder of the NOAA grant, the town would still have to consider spending the $6.7 million to repair the dam, which he said was critically important.
By an 11-2 vote, the Advisory & Finance Committee recommended that Town Meeting approve funding the dam repair. The Select Board also recommended passage of the funding by a vote of 5-0.
Special Spring Annual Town Meeting Article 12: Guns in town buildings and parks
This measure is expected to generate the longest and most contentious debate at Town Meeting.
Police Chief Dana Flynn wants the town to opt out of a provision in a state law banning firearms in town-owned or managed buildings, parks, recreational facilities, and other public places.
The Select Board initially supported the opt-out, but this week, reversed itself in the face of public criticism.
“Personally, I think we have an odd cultural fascination with guns that I will never fully understand,” Select Board Vice Chair Kevin Canty said Tuesday.
The board voted 4-1 Tuesday to recommend that Town Meeting take no action on the proposed bylaw. Select Board Chair Dick Quintal cast the dissenting vote.
“Obviously, we’ve heard from dozens, if not hundreds of our constituents,” Select Board member John Mahoney said.
Quintal, as he has done previously, said he would defer to Flynn when it comes to public safety measures. The chief contends that banning firearms from Town Hall and other places makes them “soft targets” for attackers. He and Brindisi argue that the public would be safer if town employees and others were allowed to be armed.
“I agree with the chief and I agree with the Second Amendment,” Quintal said.
Even though the Select Board and the Advisory and Finance Committee oppose Article 12, Town Meeting is still likely to debate it.
The rule is part of sweeping legislation called “An Act Modernizing Firearms Laws” that was signed by Governor Maura Healey last July. It includes a clause that allows communities to opt out of the ban on guns in municipal buildings and other public places.
Firearms at schools and courthouses were already banned before the law passed.
Select Board member Charlie Bletzer successfully pushed for adding a non-binding question on the gun issue to the May 17 town election ballot and urged that Town Meeting hold off on taking up the topic until residents have voted.
“It’s a complicated issue, people’s right versus public safety,” Bletzer said. “We need to hear from the residents.”
Canty doesn’t think the timing was appropriate.
“I would like to see Town Meeting review this now that it is before them,” he said. Bletzer’s proposal, Canty added, was an ill-advised attempt to circumvent Town Meeting.
Mahoney agreed, saying it would be best to wait to see what Town Meeting does before putting the question on the May ballot. There would still be time to do so next week.
Still, Bletzer’s motion to put the issue on the May 17 ballot passed by a vote of 3-to-2.
Spring Annual Town Meeting Article 12: Nuclear Stabilization Fund
The town has a Nuclear Mitigation Stabilization Fund that could be used for the eventual purchase of 1,600 acres owned by Holtec International, the company decommissioning the former Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Manomet. The fund has a balance of $9.9 million. The Select Board proposes adding another $500,000 to it.
The Advisory and Finance Committee voted against recommending putting more money into the fund this year, but, as happened last year, Town Meeting can override that recommendation. Last year, it voted to add $500,000.
Spring Annual Town Meeting Article 27: Rezoning TL Edwards gravel plant property
Town Meeting members will consider whether to rezone the TL Edwards Inc. gravel plant property so that the owner can sell the 54-acre parcel, preferably to a retailer. The site now is an eyesore at a key entry point to the town.
William Simms, a lawyer who represents Edwards, said it has heard from several potential buyers — including Costco — but they won’t engage in serious talks until Town Meeting weighs in.
Article 27 would change the zoning from light industrial to mixed commerce, which would allow retail businesses to operate at the site — located off Cherry Street and Commerce Way.
So far, every town board has recommended approving the measure including the Select Board, the Zoning Board and the Planning Board, Sims said.
He said TL (Terry) Edwards’ goal is to turn the property into a completely different type of operation.
Sims has said that Edwards, who is 80 but still works 40 hours a week, wants to consolidate the plant, at 300 Cherry St., with another he owns in Avon, and “at the same time capture the retail business that would be much more attractive in Plymouth.”
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.