Plympton Board of Selectmen Renews Comcast Franchise, Clears 20-Article Town Meeting Warrant

PLYMPTON -- April 14, 2025, Plympton Board of Selectmen unanimously renewed the town's Comcast cable television franchise and recommended a full slate of more than 20 annual and special town meeting warrant articles at the April 14 meeting. The new 10-year Comcast license, effective July 1, 2025, sets the franchise fee at 5 percent of gross revenues, matching rates in Carver and Halifax under the Area 58 Community Media regional consortium, and passed on a 3-0 roll call with Town Counsel Bill August and Area 58 Executive Director Rich Goulart participating remotely. The board recommended the fiscal year 2026 operating budget to town meeting, flagging a fire department union expansion proposal and a recreation department request of $48,736, roughly $28,000 above the Finance Committee's $20,000 placeholder, as figures likely to be trimmed. All three selectmen voted reluctantly to recommend the MBTA-mandated Route 106 zoning overlay, with one calling the state legislation "abysmally, poorly thought through," but citing Plympton's receipt of more than $2 million in state grants over two and a half years as the deciding factor. The board also disclosed that required well completion reports and permit applications for the town's new public water supply project have not been filed with the Board of Health, a compliance gap the board directed staff to resolve through consultant Dan Pallotta.