Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The town of Plymouth is hereby authorized to establish a special account to be known as the Plymouth Fire Hazard account, which shall be kept separate and apart from all other monies of said town by the treasurer of said town. Donations from private sources may be received by the town and placed into said account as well as any funds borrowed by the town by authority established in this act for purposes of this act. Said treasurer of said town shall maintain said account and may invest monies in said account in a manner authorized by sections fifty-four and fifty-five of chapter forty-four of the General Laws.

SECTION 2. The principal and interest of said account may be distributed by or under the authority and direction of the Plymouth town manager without further appropriation by town meeting in accordance with provisions of section four of this act.

SECTION 3. Loans made by the town pursuant to this act shall be available only to those homeowners whose homes are currently heated by electric radiant ceiling heating panels, and for the sole purpose of replacing said panels with an alternative heating system. The amount of any loan to a homeowner shall not exceed seven thousand, five hundred dollars per residence.

SECTION 4. To qualify for a loan pursuant to section three of this act, a homeowner shall submit to the town manager or his designee an application, on a form established by the town manager, and a signed original estimate from a state certified building or heating contractor for the cost of installing an alternative heating system. The homeowner shall also agree to permit an agent or employee of the town to inspect the residence after said alternative heating system has been installed. The town manager may promulgate regulations relating to the loan program authorized herein and the town manager or his designee shall evaluate each application and determine what amount of money, if any, shall be loaned to the applicant.

SECTION 5. No loan pursuant to this act shall be made unless the homeowner has entered into an advance written loan agreement with the town manager or his designee. Such loan agreement shall state that the homeowner shall be personally responsible for repaying to the town the entire amount of the loan plus interest in the amount of the town of Plymouth's permanent bond interest rate plus two percent. Such loan agreement shall be recorded as a betterment and be subject to the provisions of chapter eighty of the General Laws relative to the assessment, apportionment, abatement, division, reassessment and collection of assessments.

SECTION 6. No action by the town of Plymouth and its agents and employees in carrying out the provisions of this act shall create liability or responsibility in said town, its agents or employees for any loss or injury relating in any way to or arising out of said removal or installation of any heating system in any residential structure in said town.

SECTION 7. The town of Plymouth is hereby authorized to borrow from time to time such sums of money as may be necessary for the purposes of this act. Any debt incurred by the town of Plymouth pursuant to this act shall be subject to the provisions of chapter forty-four of the General Laws and shall not exceed twenty years.

SECTION 8. Any appropriation or borrowing by the town of Plymouth for purposes contained herein shall not be included for the purpose of computation of the levy or borrowing limits otherwise imposed upon the town by the General Laws.

SECTION 9. The vote of the town of Plymouth passed under article five of the warrant for the town meeting held on June twentieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-five, authorizing the issue of bonds for the purposes of this act is hereby ratified, validated and confirmed.

SECTION 10. This act shall take effect upon its passage.