Plymouth Board of Health Tables Emerson Road Septic Dispute, Approves Seven Variances

PLYMOUTH — August 6, 2025 — Plymouth's Board of Health tabled a contested septic variance for 23 Emerson Road and ousted a longtime member from a regional public health grant committee at its August 6 meeting. The board approved seven grease trap and septic variances unanimously before stalling on the Emerson Road application after neighbor Kathy Aldridge argued that a proposed three-foot setback from her property line was insufficient and that a 130-foot-deep lot left room for a better-designed system; Health Director Karen Keane recommended tabling the matter pending new engineering calculations and the possible addition of a full impervious barrier around the leaching field. In a 4-1 vote, the board replaced Dr. Barry Potvin — a co-author of the six-town Southern Plymouth County Public Health Excellence Collaborative's intermunicipality agreement — as voting member with board member Meg Payne; Potvin voted no, called the move "very deleterious," and warned the appointment may constitute an open meeting violation because the posted agenda listed a "liaison" rather than a formal "member" appointment. Keane was confirmed as the collaborative's alternate member 4-0-1, with Potvin abstaining. Keane also reported that six Plymouth ponds currently carry active cyanobacteria blooms and are closed to recreational use.