Stephani Teran
Express staff
On Feb. 7, 2026, the Plympton Town Properties Committee held the first open-to-the-public meeting concerning the ongoing, but delayed, project to provide the town with a new, up to code, fire station. The meeting was opened by the Town Properties Committee Chair, Pierre Boyer and fellow board members Kaitlin Johnson and Keelin Smith. This meeting was to be the first in a four-phase initiative to present factual data on current operations, EMS response times, and facility needs while being transparent with the public and focusing on tax impacts for the residents of Plympton.
Boyer began by explaining that they had been working closely with the Fire Chief, Cheryl Duddy, on gathering data about how the fire department works within the town and surrounding areas. Boyer assured that, “We are going to use this data to help find the right solution for the town as we continue to move forward with the project.” He also reiterated that there would be no votes taken, no decisions made, and was purely to present data and engage in a feedback-based conversation with town members in attendance.
The first operational topic that was discussed concerned how the fire station responds to calls. All emergency calls go through the Regional Old Colony Communications Center in Duxbury. Plympton emergency services are then dispatched -both on calls within town boundaries as well as surrounding towns that have mutual aid agreements with our town.
The fire station staffing was reviewed by the Chair as well. Currently, there are six full-time employees at the fire station -the Fire Chief, the Administrative Fire Prevention Captain, and four firefighter paramedics. The chief and captain have a traditional five-day work week, while the paramedics work in rotating 24hr shifts. The Plympton Fire Department provides services and coverage 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Next, the daily staffing needs were discussed with weekdays having three to four personnel with two on call overnight. The impact shifts, meaning the hours likely to present the highest frequency of calls, is Monday through Thursday 3-9 p.m., and Friday 3-7 p.m. During the weekends, the fire department staffs three personnel during the daytime, and three overnight, with impact hours being Saturday’s entire 24 hours and Sunday’s from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In addition to the full-time staff at the fire station, there are five part time employees that work up to 24 hours a week, 20 members that are certified to work EMT shifts, and seven fire fighters who are fire-response only and on call from home, as well as four probationary fire fighters who are awaiting academy training, as well as 35 on-call firefighters.
Once the shifts and personnel status of the fire station was presented, Boyer moved into presenting facts about the apparatus and what is currently available. This includes one tanker, two engines, two ambulances, two brush trucks, one command vehicle, and one support vehicle. Boyer noted, “The next apparatus we need to replace in the town is ambulance #2.” He then explained that all these vehicles would need storage in the bay.
Another area of data collected by the Town Properties Committee concerned call volume. Call volumes from 2021-2024 were analyzed and compared. The total number of emergency responses were presented as: 2021 at 750 calls, 2022 at 759 calls, 2023 at 785 calls, and 2024 at 808 calls. The number of fires responded to in 2021 came in at 11, in 2022 at 14, in 2023 at 12, and in 2024 at 12. This was presented with the much higher numbers of EMS based responses which tallied at 454 for 2021, 513 for 2022, 542 for 2023, and 541 for 2024.
The next points of data presented by the committee concerned mutual aid activity -given and received. Mutual aid is collaborative responses of our fire department to assist in surrounding towns as well as other towns assisting with responses in our town if needed. Mutual aid given in 2021 totaled 89 responses given and 14 received. In 2022, 124 responses were given and 19 received. In 2023, 138 responses were given and 6 were received. In 2024, 172 responses were given and 10 were received.
All data provided by the Town Properties Committee shows that the Plympton Fire Department is an EMS service driven entity with a steadily increasing number of calls and services rendered in ours and surrounding mutual aid towns. In addition to the numbers of responses presented, Boyer also displayed a heat map that showed the frequency of calls from inside Plympton do not have a specific, concentrated origin -meaning calls were pretty evenly dispersed throughout the town with a few exceptions. “Sysco is a high-volume call area as is Center Street and Palmer Road where there are a lot of car accidents,” Boyer pointed out.
Boyer moved in to the data behind population and expected population in the coming years. The data presented indicated a minimal decrease in population for Plympton from 2025-2050. The current population of 2928 residents was divided into the focus-age groups of 60+, 60-69 years, 70-79 years, and 80+. According to simulated runs of data, the 60+ age group had 890 residents in 2025 vs a projected 779 60+ residents in 2050. For the age group of 60-69 the 2025 population was 435 vs a projected 401 for 2050. For the age group of 70-79 the population was a drastic decrease from 303 in 2025 to a projected 170 in 2050. Lastly, the 80+ age group was presented as 152 in 2025 and expected to increase to 208 by 2050. None of this data included the pending developmental projects that will increase town population significantly such as the Ricketts Pond Estates. It was noted that population increases were possible and unpredictable and that additional demands on the fire department might include increased storm-related activity and aging infrastructures around town.
One of the biggest concerns with the project of the new Fire Station is the tax implications on residents. This was a driving reason to cause the town to vote down the previous plans that had taken years of research and work to come to fruition and be formally presented. The new Town Properties Committee is looking to present tax mitigation strategies beginning as soon as Phase One of the project. Boyer stated, “We are going to approach the fire station project with the goal of minimizing the tax impact on residents -though we can make no guarantees at this stage. The Town Properties Committee is deliberately evaluating multiple financial strategies to reduce, offset, or smooth a potential tax burden.”
Boyer stated that the Town Properties Committee was committed to a disciplined, data-driven approach that prioritizes fiscal responsibility and focuses not only on the cost to construct a new station, but on the long-term financial impact on the town over the next several decades. The currently proposed mitigation strategies include a debt roll-off and timing strategy, grants and outside funding opportunities, ambulance fund review as a source of revenue, and studying long-term cost control.
The debt roll-off strategy would include looking at the towns debt schedule to see which debts are to roll off in five years, then time any potential borrowing so that the new debt replaces the old rather than layers upon it. Boyer than explained that the grant and outside funding opportunities are being evaluated by the committee to see what the town is eligible for on a federal and state level. “We are actually in contact with a senator and other fire stations to see what opportunities they found for funding,” Boyer assured.
The ambulance fund review would look at the revenue generated by ambulance services rendered by Plympton and the committee would take a close look to see if generated funds from this service could offset any of the fire station costs. Long-term operating cost control is also a strategy the Town Properties Committee is using to keep costs down. Boyer stated, “There is tax impact often driven by construction costs and long-term operating expenses. We are looking at evaluating staffing assumptions, overtime trends, utilities and maintenance, and life cycle costs to ensure the solution is affordable long term.”
In addition to these strategies, the Town Properties Committee assured they are committed to transparency concerning the budget context. Lastly, Boyer added, “It is important to note that at this phase there are no final decisions made. Phase One is to gather data, listen to residents, ensure future recommendations are noted in fiscal responsibility, and to get community input.” Upon conclusion of the data presentation the meeting was opened to the public for comments.
With 22 residents in attendance there were many questions and concerns shared with the committee. The nature of running the project based on a more EMS-supportive model as opposed to a fire station-focused, operational model was brought up. The importance of providing mutual aid to surrounding towns was also discussed, with Chief Duddy adding, “When we go for mutual aid, we bill the patient no differently than we normally do and we collect that revenue. So, it actually generates revenue when we go out of town with the ambulance. It is important for us to keep our mutual aid agreements in place, because if we do have a large structure fire, we need to bring mutual aid in. It’s a reciprocal system. So, the ambulance does bring revenue to the town.”
Justin Shepard commented that the ambulance is a “cash cow” for the town and pointed out that with a new, large residential structure in Halifax as well as the 60-unit development via Ricketts Pond in Plympton, there would likely be an increase in demand for emergency services rather than a decrease. “We also have a lot of single-family homes right now with one or two occupants, turning over into families with two or three kids -I can’t imagine that with the aging population we have that our population will decrease.” Boyer responded that the population-decrease data was based off of the current numbers and data but did not account for pending projects and possibilities that would undoubtedly increase the town population.
One common concern was about the $978.000.00 loan taken out to conduct the usability study -half of which was already used for the project. Marilyn on Elm Street asked, “I would like to know if you have decided to totally disregard the plans that were already developed for the fire station. I also want to know if you have looked into making modifications for those plans. Debt-wide, the Dennett debt will roll off this year and that is why we had looked to get the fire station started.” In addition to this concern, another resident stated, “It cost a lot of town money to fund the previous fire station proposal, and if I am hearing correctly, we are not going to use that. So that is close to a million dollars that we have authorized and it is not cast to the wind. I don’t understand why you would start with something new unless you felt it wasn’t researched well. From what I read, I know the previous committee did a lot of hard work.”
Justin Shepard added a posed question to the committee asking if there came a point when the new research aligned with the previously done research, would the committee, in fact, go back to the original plans presented by the previous committee. Boyer replied, “Absolutely we are open to that,” he explained, “If the data leads us in the same direction, then that previous plan is what we are coming back with.” He noted that this would be in addition to presenting other options to the town, including a possible proposal to renew and remodel the current fire station.
Some of the residents in attendance wanted to know where the previous plans and studies were available for viewing, to which Jon Wilhelmsen -previous Town Properties Committee Chair, provided the previous architects contact and said that if anyone reached out to them, the first feasibility study could be obtained. Another resident asked about the line of authority in terms of final decisions being made about the project. Boyer answered that the committee would present the plans to the Board of Selectmen, town administrator, and residents via a town meeting.
Vicki Alberti expressed her view on the flaws in the current population projections depicted in the data presented. First, she thanked the committee members for stepping up to such a monumental task. She then explained that she did not agree with the projections at present. “There is a lot of pressure to develop this town from the state. And the possible 40B Complex will add 60 families to the town. So, I disagree with the state numbers you have presented. I am on the Open Space Committee and I know the town is pressured to develop anywhere it can, so I think we are cutting ourselves short looking at a decrease in population.” Boyer responded again that he would only use the current data when formulating a plan.
Kathryn Shepard invited the committee members to attend a Finance Committee Meeting. “I invite you to join a meeting to learn about some other areas in town that we are getting polls from that require funds as well as doing this project.” Boyer thanked her for the offer and noted that he had not had the time to attend any town council or committee meetings aside from the Board of Selectmen meeting days prior which was his first time attending any meeting of that nature. He also reminded the residents that the current Town Properties Committee had only been in place since November and they were still learning things and trying to manage their own time and energy with their personal lives and the fire station project.
Resident Mark Wallace asked the Chair why a meeting between the former Town Properties Committee and the new one could not take place to exchange information and reach a better understanding of what had already been done. Boyer quickly said he would take that into consideration. More concern about the debt roll-off strategy was expressed by residents as well as confusion as to why the previous costly plans were not being consulted to enhance or add to current data. There was also concern over the site location potentials for a new station and worry over the wasted money to install wells in the area previously designated for the project.
Wilhelmsen spoke up about his insight with the timing of the project and the tax mitigation strategies. “You have the debt that’s rolling off this year, that $50,000.00. Silver Lake, as you mentioned, over the next two years is $700,000.00, and then following $600,000.00, so that’s 1.3 million. Plympton is about 10% of that, so $130,000.00 -that’s a total of $180,000.00 over the next three years going off. We ended up paying for some projects that, perhaps in hindsight we should have bonded to leave some extra money to pay for things… That is unfortunately a challenge.” Wilhelmsen added that there were also a few things on the horizon such as the $50 million in repairs needed for Silver Lake Middle and High Schools and a new roof needed in the town. He also noted an increase in students coming into Dennett at about 250 new students and the need for increased space in the school. In addition, Wilhelmsen noted that Plympton’s financial struggles were not unique in the state. “Based on news articles about town meetings posted all around the South Shore, every town sounds like this. It’s an absolute crisis. The state is not giving the money that it needs to in order to offset the cost of public buildings.” Lastly, Wilhelmsen noted that when a fire station is planned, there is a minimum that must be met regardless of the number of residents served. “If you have 3,000 residents, that station is not going to be fundamentally different than 6,000 or 9,000 residents. You might add a couple of bedrooms and a bit more space, but things like decontamination and storage -all of that is a bare minimum. If the fire department went out on 12 calls or three, or a big house or structure fire -you are still coming back contaminated.” Wilhelmsen thanked the committee for the work they are doing and referred to his many years serving on the board and offered access to all previously obtained and conducted studies and data.
The committee reiterated that this was an entirely volunteer based effort and that everyone in town has specific qualifications and abilities and they invited anyone who feels so inclined to offer their expertise, insight, and support. Boyer assured that no prior experience in town boards or politics is needed to volunteer in any way and that the committee was doing their best to deal with a steep learning curve and designated as much time to the project as the feasibly could. The meeting was adjourned and the following meeting will be Phase Two of the Education and Listening Initiative.