Marshfield: Sen. Kerry to hold town hall-style meeting and give sneak-peek of new infrastructure funding plan

Senator John Kerry is coming to the South Shore this weekend to speak with residents still dealing with the after-effects of storm damage from this winter’s weather assault. And Kerry has said that he will also give an outline of a plan he’s been working on to help communities find the funding to rebuild.

Kerry will be in Marshfield on Saturday at a town hall-style meeting on topics ranging from national health care issues, to topics that hit closest to home–like crumbling coastal infrastructure.

Scituate and Marshfield have been searching for federal and state funding to repair seawalls and roads damaged by a set of severe winter storms, but the area has not met the damage cost threshold for federal disaster funding. Towns are now looking at proposition 2 ½ overrides and other measures to pay for repairs to the damaged infrastructure.

Kerry said he will be unveiling a plan on Tuesday that he’s been working on for the past two years, which would set up a mechanism to fund these types of infrastructure projects. He said he’ll be giving residents a sneak peak at the highlights of the plan on Saturday.

“We’ve really got to get the final details locked in with a couple of the Republicans we’re talking to for Tuesday’s announcement,” said Kerry. “But basically it will be an infrastructure bank; a proposal for how we can build things nationally in country. And we’ll lay out on Tuesday exactly what the structure will be and how it will work.”

Congressman William Keating, State Representative Jim Cantwell, and Weymouth Mayor Sue Kay are also scheduled to attend Saturday’s meeting at the Seth Ventress Library, which begins at noon.