Grants

MassEEA Cranberry Acquisition for Restoration: Future Cotton Brook Preserve

Plymouth’s Department of Energy & Environment recently secured a grant for the Town in the amount of $1,035,000 for the purchase of soon-to-be-retired cranberry bogs off Black Cat Road.

The Town was one of only four state-wide applicants that received funding through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ Cranberry Bog Acquisition for Restoration program, which provides funding to municipalities, registered non-profits, and other qualified conservation organizations for the purchase or conservation restriction of retired (or soon to be retired) cranberry bogs. The intent of the program is to return the land to natural wetland habitat, restoring its ecological function and allowing the land to provide increased ecosystem services.

With this funding (representing 90% of the total purchase price), the Town will acquire just over 90 acres off Black Cat Road, at the headwaters of Town Brook. Located just south of Billington Sea, the Project Site is situated immediately adjacent to several parcels of existing open space, including an existing 49.6-acre parcel of Town-owned conservation land. This purchase will initiate the decommissioning and restoration of currently operating cranberry bogs, thereby reducing nutrient loading, improving water quality, enhancing storm attenuation, and providing improved habitat for fish and wildlife throughout the Town Brook watershed. Following restoration, the Town will open the preserve—to be named after the adjacent Cotton Brook—to passive recreation for residents and visitors.

MassEEA Dam, Levee, and Seawall: 

Plymouth Beach Seawall Repair (Phase 2)

The Department of Energy & Environment (DEE) recently received another grant through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs’ Dam, Levee & Seawall Repair & Removal Program, to support the design services required for the repair of the Plymouth Beach Seawall.

The purpose of MassEEA’s Dam, Levee & Seawall program is to “enhance, preserve, and protect the natural resources and scenic, historic and aesthetic qualities of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts while ensuring a clean energy and resilient future for the state’s residents.” The program provides financial assistance to plan and implement projects that will repair dams, seawalls, or levees that provide storm damage protection and/or flood and erosion control.

Plymouth will apply its $111,712 award to fund the design and permitting of the second phase of the Plymouth Beach Seawall Replacement Project. This next phase of the seawall project will address a 340-foot segment of the structure that falls between the portion that was recently reconstructed in 2020 and the area just south of the concession and rest rooms facilities. These southernmost sections of the seawall protect a narrow segment of the beach, where the Eel River flows less than 100 feet away. Repair of the seawall in this area is therefore vital to the protection of roadway access, public parking, and Eel River against storm surges that threaten to overtop the beach.

MassDOT Shared Streets and Spaces:

Crosswalk Improvements and 

Speed Management Initiatives

Residents may have noticed recent improvements to the intersection of Alden Steet and Standish Avenue, as well as the crosswalk at the Town’s Training Green on Sandwich Street.  

These improvements were funded by a grant that the Department of Public Works (DPW) obtained through the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Shared Streets & Spaces Program.

MassDOT’s 100%-funded program (i.e. no local match funds are required) supports a wide array of roadway and pedestrian connectivity improvements that reduce speeding and promote safety. The DPW applied its $273,840 award to address pedestrian safety at two school-based locations, namely Standish Street at Alden Street (Cold Spring Elementary School) and Sandwich Street at the Training Green (Nathaniel Morton Elementary School). The projects at these locations included the expansion of curbing and the installation of signage, to realign the roadway, reduce crosswalk lengths, and improve crosswalk visibility. These “roadway diet” initiatives are also known to reduce speeding, by narrowing the width of the travel lane.

This grant from MassDOT will also fund the purchase and installation of crosswalk beacon equipment and several sets of fixed and portable radar feedback signs, each capable of collecting speed and volume data that DPW staff can use to evaluate problem areas. As the year progresses, residents will see these signs installed at various locations throughout town, where speeding concerns have been raised.

Workplace Safety and Risk Management

During 2024, Plymouth earned a total of $71,357 in funding for workplace safety and risk management initiatives through three grant programs:

-- $59,053 through the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association’s Flex Grant Program for facility repairs, cybersecurity protection, work zone safety equipment, AEDs, marine safety gear, and personal protective equipment 

-- $6,879 through the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association’s Risk Management Grant Program for work zone safety signs, eye protection, bucket evacuation kits, and manhole lift assemblies

-- $5,425 through the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents’ Workplace Safety Grant Program for Snow & Ice Removal training and CPR/AED classes for employees

Secretery of State's Veterans' Heritage: Renovation of the Hall of Flags

The Town’s Recreation Division recently celebrated the renovation of the Hall of Flags at Plymouth’s Memorial Hall, unveiling upgraded display cases, repaired plaster, and newly painted woodwork throughout the exhibit that honors the stories of Plymouth’s veterans.

Constructed between 1924-1925 and listed within the Massachusetts Register of Historic Places, Memorial Hall is located within the heart of Plymouth’s historic downtown. Continuously owned and operated by the Town—and specifically constructed as a memorial to Plymouth’s veterans—Memorial Hall serves as the Town’s central civic facility, where numerous governmental, cultural, educational, and community-oriented events (public and private) are held throughout the year.

The Hall of Flags is the central exhibit within Memorial Hall, where Plymouth’s veterans have found a place to gather, remember, and be honored since 1926. Prominently flanking the central corridor through which thousands of annual visitors to Memorial Hall must pass, the Hall of Flags exhibit is a collection of historical photographs, artifacts, and interpretive displays that memorialize the stories and experiences of Plymouth’s veterans—including, most poignantly, the uniforms of Plymouth’s fallen soldiers.

The Hall of Flags project was funded in part by a $15,000 grant through the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Veterans’ Heritage Grant Program, a 1:1 match grant program offered to municipalities and non-profits for initiatives that will preserve objects, sites, and collections of documents that are significant to the history and experiences of military veterans in the Commonwealth.  In addition to the physical improvements to the Hall of Flags, the grant also supported the digitization of veterans' stories, images, and artifacts through QR-code enabled technology, thereby enriching the scope of the exhibit and enhancing the visitor experience.