Plymouth Secures $10 Million NOAA Grant for Jenny Pond Improvements
Town Also Receives Additional Grants for Various Projects
PLYMOUTH, MA - July 23 - Plymouth has secured a $10 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to enhance the Jenny Pond area, with work set to begin this fall.
Town Manager Derek Brindisi announced the grant during his report at the July 23 Select Board meeting. "We talked about a NOAA grant award of $10 million that's gonna help us focus on the Jenny Pond area that that work will begin this fall," Brindisi said.
The project aims to improve environmental conditions and public access in the area.
The Jenny Pond project is one of several initiatives for which Plymouth has recently received grant funding. Brindisi praised the efforts of the town’s Grant Writer, "I'd like to say thank you to Tiffany Park, our Grant Writer. She's been working very closely with all of our different departments, and we continue to receive grant awards almost on a weekly basis."
Among the other grants secured by the town is a $37,000 cybersecurity grant to develop an incident response plan. Brindisi explained, "This will help us develop an incident response plan relative to cybersecurity. So Joe Young and Tiffany Park worked on that grant."
The town also received a $360,000 grant for the Downtown Resiliency Project, which will focus on redesigning Court and Main Street Extension. Michael Cahill, who works for David Gould, the Director of Energy and the Environment, is expected to provide more details about this project at the Aug. 6 Select Board meeting.
Additionally, Plymouth was awarded a $270,000 grant from the Federal Economic Development Agency to develop a master plan for the Holtec property. This grant is part of the negotiations for the PILOT agreement with Holtec to jointly develop a master plan for the 1,530-acre property.
Brindisi also reported on the completion of a chip sealing project, stating, "17 miles of road have been completed with rubber chip seal. And then we'll continue to do some more paving for the remainder of this construction season."
The Town Manager drew attention to a newly restored and displayed 1857 map of Plymouth County. The map, published by Henry F. Walling, shows the town's geographic features, names of landowners and residents, schools, businesses, and places of worship from that time.
The Plymouth Art and Culture Task Force worked on restoring the map using Community Preservation Committee funds. Brindisi noted, "We plan on having the Plymouth Art and Culture Task Force come in to talk more about this map."
The Select Board did not take any formal action on the grant announcements but expressed appreciation for the town's success in securing funding for various projects.