Plympton Board of Selectmen reorganizes, launches dog-park research after cemetery dispute

PLYMPTON -- May 20, 2024, Plympton Board of Selectmen reorganizes after annual election and debates dog policy, meeting times. The board unanimously elected John Treanor as chair, Mark Russo as vice chair, and newly seated member Dana Smith as clerk at its May 20 meeting. Highway Superintendent Rob Furlow told the board a resident had defied the cemetery's longstanding rule seven, prohibiting dogs, and that one of her dogs scratched his truck during the confrontation; the resident appeared at the meeting and said she always cleans up and asked, "Where do we go?" The board left the cemetery rule intact but directed Furlow to price out dog waste removal and tick-spraying services and explore a potential dog park on roughly 10 acres of town-owned land near Harry Jason Park, with Russo tasked with outreach to neighboring towns that already run dog parks. The board also agreed, without a formal vote, to pilot 2 p.m. summer meeting start times in July and August before returning to 5:30 p.m. in September, while Treanor warned that public transparency must remain the board's guiding principle.