The completed bridge will cost $272 million and will be open to traffic in the fall of 2016.

Project Manager Jack Peccora spoke with WATD’s Bob Gohl at the hearing about the 75% drawings. “It includes the completed structure from all facets. All of the tower, lift span, approach spans, architecture, everything to do with the project at the 75% detail level,” said Peccora

Peccora estimates that it’ll take another 2-3 months to complete the rest of the design.

Foundation work is currently ongoing with steel arriving daily. Framework for the main construction and the vertical lift span are expected to begin this fall and completed in early 2015.

Vertical lift design

The only contested race on the ballot is for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen between incumbent board member David Soper and challenger Kenneth Mitchell.

There is also an override question on the ballot for $210,400 that would be used to help pay the town’s assessed share of the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District budget for the next fiscal year.

In addition, there is a separate ballot for a recall election. Voters will have a choice of voting either for or against the recall of Tom Constantine from the Board of Health.

It is also election day tomorrow in Halifax and Whitman, but there are no contested races on the ballot for either town.

The County Advisory Board is made up of representatives from the 26 towns plus the City of Brockton that encompass Plymouth County.

Selectman Chairman Matt Muratore will represent Plymouth at the Advisory Board’s budget meeting. In advance of that meeting he requested input from his Board at the Selectmen’s meeting this week.

“It did come up about the Commissioners’ pay.  It’s in the budget that their pay would double from $7,500 to $15,000. We are the second largest voting block in the County so we decided to actually take a vote on that and recommend not to increase that. That was a unanimous vote. ”

The votes of the Advisory Board members are weighted and values were recalculated early this year with the result that Plymouth now has the highest valued vote, followed by Brockton and Hingham.

When the votes are taken at the Advisory Board meeting they’re counted by those values.

The Advisory Board was originally scheduled to meet May 23^rd but the meeting has been pushed back to Thursday, May 30th at Kingston Town Hall at 7p.m.

According to the Marshfield Fire Department, a paving crew was working on a driveway at a home on Careswell Street and struck a residential gas line.

Marshfield Fire, Columbia Gas, and NSTAR worked to control the leak but the Careswell Street homeowner and their dog were evacuated.

After an investigation it was determined that the paving contractor struck an “unmapped” gas line.

The high school was evacuated and three bomb sniffing K-9 units  from the state police and the Quincy Police Department performed a search inside the school and outside.

No devices turned up but it was discovered that there was a mechanical problem with the fire alarm.

Due to the lengthy K-9 search and time needed to fix the fire alarm, students were released one-hour early.

Bridgewater police say the bomb threat is under investigation.

Mayor Kay is proposing a nearly $140 million budget for the next fiscal year but many feel the proposal doesn’t put enough towards school finances.

In the video shown Monday, McKinney had teenagers from a Boy Scout troop reenact, or appear to reenact, recent meetings that involved discussions about the budget.

After about six minutes, the video was turned off and McKinney immediately apologized saying he “didn’t mean to offend anyone” and “thought it was funny, but obviously it wasn’t.”

In a statement released by Mayor Kay, she says the suspension is necessary and McKinney’s action was,“contrary to my policy of reviewing all matters that represent my administration and the office of the Mayor.”

She also says, “It is my belief that the Town is better served retaining Mr. McKinney in his role and assisting me in bringing the Town through this difficult budget season and beyond.”

It spent the most amount of time, a half hour, on a proposal by selectmen to spend $5,000 on a consultant to advise on how to reduce the town’s increasing special education expense. Selectmen argued the special education cost will expand to 12 percent of the total budget next fiscal year. The school committee reminded the Meeting selectmen have no voice in special education spending.Individual negotiations between the schools and parents of special needs students set the bill. That proposal was defeated.

Voters returned Matt Muratore to his seat on the Board of Selectmen and his peers unanimously re-elected him to the chair the Board.  His main focus will concern economic growth. “We need to change the tax rate in this town.  Right now almost 80% of the residents pay the taxes.  We need to try to get more businesses on that side,” said Muratore

Selectman Anthony Provenzano’s immediate top priority is the new solid waste disposal program. “There’s going to be quite a bit of education that’s going to have to go on with folks to know what their options are, what those options are going to cost them, what the convenience level is going to be for each option, so really I think that is a top priority,” explained Provenzano

Selectman Belinda Brewster takes over as Vice Chair, nominated by Selectman John Mahoney, outgoing Vice Chair.

The Board meets next Tuesday night at 7p.m.

Independent Bank Corporation, parent of Rockland Trust Company, recently announced that an agreement has been signed to acquire Mayflower Bank for about $37.2 million.

Rockland Trust will now pursue regulatory approval with the deal expected to close by the end of year.

Ralph Valente, Senior Vice President and Director of Marketing for Rockland Trust, says it will be a smooth transition for current Mayflower Bank customers, “Those accounts would now become Rockland Trust accounts with little to no changes involved in that besides some paperwork type of things, so it’s usually pretty seamless for the vast majority of customers. Nothing will change for those customers until the convergence happens.”

But what will happen to Mayflower Bank employees?

“Rockland Trust has a pretty good history of retaining most employees through mergers and acquisitions. For example, we hire approximately 140 people every year and as of today, Mayflower Bank employees will be given preference to interview for every single open job at Rockland Trust,” said Valente

For Mayflower shareholders, the agreement says that 70% of outstanding shares will be exchanged for Independent shares and Independent will purchase the remaining 30%.

That inches the town closer to converting the elected office to an appointed position. Multiple studies have recommended local towns do so, all but the largest towns refuse.

Halifax’s current elected Treasurer/Collector, Kathleen Shiavone spoke in favor of the switch to an appointed position after she retires in 2015. She said after 14 years as Collector, when the town combined the two jobs, she “hit the ground crawling.” She said it takes an elected office holder more than a year to learn the job, a job that requires a financial professional.

Voters will decide the matter in the Halifax Annual Town Election of 2014.

Tuesday night Halifax Town Meeting also approved a PILOT, a payment in lieu of taxes, agreement with Independence Solar LLC. It will allow a solar electric generating array on 15 acres at the Halifax/Plympton line and generate at least $45,500 a year for the town.