Braintree council votes Tuesday on $1.2 million in grants for the Ivory Street landfill and Plain Street

Braintree's Town Council votes Tuesday on accepting about $1.2 million in state grants that would pay to test what is buried under the capped Ivory Street landfill, replace the water main at the Plain Street bridge and plan the future of South Braintree Square.

The state awarded all three grants, totaling $1,195,650, on Sept. 30 through its Community One Stop for Growth program, and Mayor Erin V. Joyce asked the council to accept them in memos dated Oct. 27, according to the meeting packet. None of the three motions spends town money; each asks the council to accept a state grant under the law that governs gifts and grants to towns. The council meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, in the Cahill Auditorium at Town Hall, One JFK Memorial Drive. Its Committee of Ways and Means reviews the same grants at 6 p.m. in Johnson Chambers.

The Ivory Street landfill

A $483,000 grant from MassDevelopment's Site Readiness Program would pay for an environmental and geotechnical study of the town-owned, 22-acre capped landfill on Ivory Street, which "has been closed for several decades and currently hosts a leased solar array," Joyce wrote.

A town question-and-answer sheet in the packet says the goal "is to study the Braintree capped landfill to see if it can be turned into a site that brings in tax revenue for the town." Crews would dig test pits and drill borings to learn what is underground, how deep the landfill goes and the soil, trash, groundwater and bedrock conditions, the sheet says. Workers would monitor odors, methane, hydrogen sulfide and other chemicals, and a construction management office and storage area would be set up off Ivory Street. The landfill holds an estimated 1.2 million to 1.4 million cubic yards of material, and the work would run from December 2026 through May 2027.

The study "does not commit the Town to any particular project," Joyce wrote, and the Mayor's Office will share updates and early findings with the public, the sheet says. It is a recoverable grant, and Joyce wrote that MassDevelopment can take it back if the site is sold or otherwise transferred within 30 years and brings in net proceeds above the grant amount, and that the grant is not repaid if the town doesn't sell. The resolution the council is asked to adopt reads more broadly: if the site or any part of it is sold, ground leased, otherwise transferred or refinanced, and the town clears its debts and costs on it, Braintree would pay MassDevelopment the net proceeds, up to the grant money paid out.

Plain Street water main

A $562,650 HousingWorks Infrastructure grant from the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities would go toward building and replacing the water main at the Plain Street bridge. Joyce wrote that the work is "essential to supporting the approved 752-unit transit-oriented housing development at 10 Plain Street," along with other redevelopment in town, and would help revive "a long underutilized post-industrial area within an Environmental Justice community." The memo says the work would also be coordinated with restoration efforts along the Monatiquot River.

South Braintree Square

A $150,000 Community Planning Grant from the same office would pay consultants to study South Braintree Square: current conditions, real estate trends, traffic, walking and biking connections, zoning and stormwater drainage, Joyce wrote, and neighborhood feedback gathered through community engagement is to help shape the possible futures the consultants model for the square. The finished plan is to include design guidelines, zoning recommendations, a ranked list of street and infrastructure work and a phased schedule for finding the money to build it.

Pension bill for an injured officer

The council will also be asked to authorize the mayor to file a home rule petition asking the Legislature to grant a retirement pension to Braintree police Officer Donald M. Delaney. Delaney, a Marine Corps veteran, was shot on May 5, 2017, while helping other officers serve an arrest warrant in town, Joyce wrote.

Under a 2024 state law, Chapter 149 of the Acts of 2024, police officers and other public safety workers who cannot do their jobs because of a violent act injury receive a pension of 100% of their regular pay until retirement, and then 80% of their average annual pay over their last 12 months, Joyce wrote. That law was not in effect when Delaney was shot, and the petition would give him a pension that mirrors those benefits, she wrote. A copy of the petition is on file with the Town Clerk's office, the motion says. Both the Ways and Means Committee and the council plan to vote to go into executive session under the Open Meeting Law "to discuss the physical condition of Officer Delaney," then return to open session, the agendas say. Any bill would still need approval from the Legislature and the governor.

Tax rates for fiscal 2027

The mayor's tax rate classification order, 26 080, is listed for referral to the Committee of Ways and Means, which starts this year's process of dividing the levy between homes and businesses. The agenda does not set a hearing date, and the council's next meeting is Tuesday, Dec. 1.

At last year's hearing on Dec. 2, 2025, the mayor and the Board of Assessors recommended a 175% factor, which puts more of the levy on business property, and the rates the state lists for the year follow that option. The town's presentation said the shift saved the average single-family homeowner $1,545 that year. Braintree's fiscal 2026 rates are $10.06 per $1,000 of value for homes and $21.39 for commercial and industrial property, and the average single-family bill is $7,306, according to the state Division of Local Services. The recommendations also included a small business exemption, which the town estimated would cover 86 businesses and save them about $116,000, and declining both the residential exemption and the open space discount.

Last year's classification booklet listed the tax help the Assessor's Office runs: a $1,500 exemption for homeowners older than 65 who meet income and asset limits, exemptions for disabled veterans, blind homeowners and surviving spouses, an exemption for owners who cannot pay because of age, illness and financial hardship, a work-off program that lets homeowners 60 and older earn up to $1,500 off their tax bill, and a senior discount of $65 on the $250 yearly trash fee. Exemption applications must be filed every year and were due April 1 in the booklet's cycle, and the Assessor's Office is at 781-794-8050.

Also on the agenda

The council takes up the mayor's appointment of Frank Collins to the Weymouth-Braintree Regional Recreation Conservation District board and its own 2027 meeting calendar.

How to weigh in

None of Tuesday's items is a public hearing, and the agenda has no citizens' comment period. Under the council's posted rules, requests to speak under citizens' concerns are due by 10 a.m. the Wednesday before a meeting, and anyone else may address the council only if a councilor introduces them and a majority agrees, for up to five minutes on the subject at hand. Residents can email the council at towncouncil@braintreema.gov, call the council office at 781-794-8152 or reach their district or at-large councilor. The meeting airs live on BCAM TV and at youtube.com/bcamtv.

Label: Reported by us.