Dear Editor:
I just completed my third one-year term on the Town’s Finance Committee and have chosen not to seek reappointment at this time. During my brief tenure, it has become apparent to me that Town and School professional staff, elected and appointed officials and, ultimately, voters will be faced with several significant financial decisions in the coming months.
While you take well-deserved vacation over the summer months, I would encourage you to keep an eye on certain ongoing discussions regarding the potential for Prop 2 ½ operating override and debt exclusion ballot questions at next spring’s Annual Town Election and the ongoing discussion of financing options for the proposed $34 million long-term water supply project, i.e., permanent connection to the MWRA’s water system and the upgrade of the Happy Hollow wells, including the Select Board’s deliberation regarding the potential shift of part or all of the annual debt service on the project’s financing from future water rates to the tax rate.
Perhaps you’ve heard the saying “things come in threes” – well, it’s possible that voters will be dealing with all three issues noted above at next spring’s Annual Town Election and Annual Town Meeting. While still possible that a Prop 2 ½ operating override may be deferred until FY 2028 and/or a decision is made to defer the required upgrades to the Town Building for another year, at some point all three of these issues will be in front of voters.
Please do yourself a favor – before you lock in your position on these important issues, educate yourself by visiting the Town’s web site, in particular the web pages for the Select Board, Finance Committee and Board of Public Works; viewing upcoming public meetings (or reading The Wayland Post’s summaries of those meetings); attending upcoming public forums (or viewing them on WayCAM); and talking to your neighbors and friends. Most importantly, when the time comes, go to the ballot box, attend Town Meeting and VOTE.
— Brian O’Herlihy
Former Selectman (’99-’05) and
FinCom member (’22-’25)
Sears Road,
Dear Editor:
The Conservation Commission must reasonably:
- — Understand the time-cost of any proposed regulations on the Conservation Department;
- — Be prepared for the substantial increase in appeals that the proposed regulations will bring to the Conservation Department and to the Conservation Commission itself.
- — Prepare an estimate of the staff hours necessary to advise and enforce the proposed regulations.
- — Ask the Conservation Administrator if she has the staff time necessary to enforce the proposed regulations at the current staffing level.
Based on that information, act: - — Postpone implementation until such time as sufficient budgeted staff time exists.
- — Change the regulations thresholds and definitions so they could be adopted with no additional staff time and create only modest financial and time impact on residents.
- — Automatically approve applications and appeals within a reasonable period if no action has been taken.
- — Describe what staff activities currently undertaken will be curtailed or provide time to advise and enforce the proposed regulations.
Do not expect to come begging to a later Town Meeting for more staff to enforce these proposed regulations when you did not time-estimate their impact before adopting them.
Time is not a free good. The proposed regulations impose substantial burdens on staff, unreasonable burdens on residents, and exceed the scope of the bylaw. You are effectively making bylaws. If the proposed regulations are adopted, you should expect that your authority to promulgate regulations under existing bylaws will be met with petitioner articles at Town Meeting to curtail such authority.
Take the time to really compare how other towns regulate stormwater. Be moderate. Be balanced. Don’t create another permitting disincentive to purchase or improve real estate in Wayland.
Mike Lowery
Lakeshore Drive,
Letters to the Editor Policy
Letters (max 400 words) from Wayland residents only must be emailed (one per writer per month) to editor@waylandpost.org by 5 p.m. Friday for the next print edition and must include the writer’s name, street address, and phone for verification (anonymous submissions are rejected). Letters may be edited for length, style, clarity, or to remove personal attacks, unverified or libelous claims, offensive language, or other inappropriate content. Replies must cite the headline and date of the item referenced without naming prior writers. Election letters will not appear in the issue immediately before Election Day. Publication is at the editor’s discretion, and opinions expressed are the writers’ own.
