Carver Select Board Votes to Hire Deputy Chief Eric Jermaine as Next Fire Chief

CARVER — February 3, 2026 — Carver Select Board unanimously votes to negotiate contract with Deputy Chief Eric Jermaine as next fire chief. The board moved quickly Tuesday to advance Jermaine, a 20-year department veteran, after outgoing Chief Scott Weston's retirement prompted what members called a model succession process. "If something isn't broken, why fix it?" said member John Carter, who cited 12 years working alongside both men on the Finance Committee. The board also confronted a projected multimillion-dollar deficit in its Gateway Health Group health insurance account that will require a town meeting article drawing from free cash and the general stabilization fund — with the exact figure unknown until June 30. Town Counsel Greg Corvo disclosed that the Massachusetts Attorney General filed suit the previous week against nine MBTA Communities Act non-compliant towns; Carver was not named. The board approved a Keno license for BPO Elks Plymouth Lodge No. 1476 at 169 South Meadow Road unanimously and referred a proposed warrant article limiting cranberry-bog house lots to the Planning Board for a required zoning bylaw hearing.