Emerging from a closed-door session on Aug. 26, the Plympton Board of Selectmen announced settlements in two of the town’s outstanding land disputes — one that finally completes a Turkey Swamp conservation purchase first authorized more than three years ago, and one that binds the developer of the Ricketts Pond 40B to restore the site to its 2021 condition if the housing project never gets built. Together, Chairman Nathaniel Sides said, the agreements recover $18,000 in fees from the 40B developer plus an undisclosed amount of the town’s accumulated legal costs. Minutes later, the board voted to keep a tax-foreclosed Main Street parcel abutting Turkey Swamp in town hands as a conservation access point.
The board met at 1 p.m. and went immediately into executive session under G.L. c. 30A, §21(a)(3) to discuss litigation strategy in two cases: Town of Plympton v. SLT Construction and Town of Plympton v. Amanda Monti, as trustee of the Merrimont Realty Trust. Open session resumed at 1:51 p.m., and Sides used the first substantive report of the afternoon to summarize what had been agreed to.
On the Merrimont matter, Sides said the town had reached an agreement with the trustees of the Merrimont Realty Trust “to complete the transaction that was initially started some three, three and a half years ago.” The deal is not closed yet. Under its terms, the trustees get another year to complete a companion conservation transaction they are pursuing in the town of Halifax; in exchange, the town is made whole on the legal fees it has run up during the delay.
“It’s not done yet, but we felt that it was a good move for the town to make the town whole,” Sides said, adding that it “completes the land acquisition of the Turkey Swamp land.”
Sides walked residents back through the history. The town authorized the purchase roughly three and a half years ago. About a year later, the agreement was modified so that a particular parcel was carved out and held aside for negotiation by the trust — a change Sides said was made because it “was going to save the town a significant amount of money” while still ending with the town acquiring all of the land it had agreed to buy. “Twelve months from now, one way or the other, the town will take control of that portion of the land and get our legal fees paid, which is not insignificant,” he said.
The second settlement involves SLT Corporation, SLT Construction and principal Peter Opachinski, and covers the land at the center of the Ricketts Pond Estates project — a Chapter 40B comprehensive permit application that has drawn sustained opposition in both Plympton and neighboring Carver. The Plympton Zoning Board of Appeals issued its comprehensive permit decision in case ZBA 25-0428 to Ricketts Pond Estates, LLC, which was filed with the town clerk’s office on July 16, 2026.
With the permit issued, Sides said, residents and officials had raised a practical worry: what happens to a site that has already been substantially disturbed if the housing never materializes? The settlement answers that question. Working with town counsel, the board negotiated an agreement with Opachinski and the related corporate entities requiring that, if the parcel is not developed as a 40B, the property be returned to its previous state as defined in 2021. The town also recovered $18,000 “in recognition of past earth moving that has occurred at the property,” Sides said.
Asked directly by a member of the public whether SLT was now considering not building, Sides was emphatic that the opposite was true. “In fact, exactly the opposite,” he said. “As part of this agreement, they are planning to move ahead based on the terms.”
Sides also clarified the status of the town’s cease-and-desist order, which he said had already been lifted by operation of the comprehensive permit itself. The settlement “allows them to begin work under the terms of the comprehensive permit to pursue the 40B as they’ve agreed to,” he said. “This is just in the unlikely event that that never happens. We have an agreement in place that they will return the property to a previous condition.”
Pressed on the timeline, Sides said the developer has three years — running from the signing of the comprehensive permit, not from the date of the settlement — to make substantial progress. Completion is not required. “We have to at least make substantial progress on the 40B within three years,” he said. “And if at the end of three years that hasn’t occurred, we can then, under the terms of this agreement, we can require them to either apply for an extension with us or return it to its previous condition.”
Sides characterized the pair of agreements as “two wins, we think, for the town.” A member of the public offered a more measured assessment — “one is a definite win” — to which Sides replied: “Best we can do. Best we can do.”
The board, sitting as the local licensing authority, approved 14 one-day special licenses for Stellwagen Beer Company to serve wine and malt beverages at Sauchuk Farm during the farm’s fall festival and corn maze weekends. All 14 dates run from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The highway department was awarded a $189,750 grant to purchase a new John Deere compact wheel loader for use on dirt roads, snow removal, the recycling center and other work. Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte and his crew also hosted the annual southeastern regional highway equipment show at the Upland Sportsman’s Club.
Fennessey closed by thanking Director of Elder Affairs Colleen Thompson and her staff for inviting him to the Council on Aging’s annual barbecue. “It is these events that help me to get a true feeling of what the Plympton community is like, which helps me feel like being a part of the community,” he said.