ATM Night Two Recap

Town Meeting Votes for the Future

Wayland’s second night of the annual town meeting on April 8th continued with debates on the remaining 15 articles out of the 36 in warrant. Most of the resident participation focused on the proposed future development of two parcels of land, an article concerning 212 Cochituate Road and a resolution on 193-207 Main St.

212 Cochituate Road had been seized for nonpayment of taxes in 2013. Warrant article 30 proposed that ownership be transferred from the Tax Title Custodian to the Select Board with conditions. Attendees articulated the need for shared living housing options for people with developmental or intellectual disabilities. On turning 22 years old, they no longer have access to educational or long-term care supportive services. The proposal included adding affordable housing as well. Town Counsel also confirmed that the Town had taken the property on September 27, 2019, prior to the May 24, 2021 State law that returned residual sale proceeds to the owner once the unpaid taxes were recovered.

Residents expressed concern that the wording in the article allowed the Select board more discretion than desired as to what was in the “best interest of the town”. After an extended debate, an amendment was proposed to ensure that any market-rate housing developments were accompanied by affordable or shared living housing. The original article stated that the Select Board could decide its use, either shared living or affordable housing and/or private use. With 73% of voters in favor, the amendment passed.

Three warrant articles focused on 193-207 Main Street parcels: article 34, environmental clean-up; article 35, feasibility study for a grass field and article 36, a resolution for a proposed use of the site. With contamination from past uses of the sites as a former landfill, burn pit and the old DPW garage, the town voted to allocate up to $250,000 for soil and groundwater remediation by the town’s Licensed Site Professional. This cleanup was strongly supported with 97% of votes in favor.

However, the feasibility study for 195 Main Street met with some skepticism, especially considering the need for environmental cleanup prior to any development. Several residents at the debate con-microphone stated that it was too early to commit to the study without a clearer understanding of the land’s environmental future. A motion to pass over the article was approved by a majority vote.

Despite the favorable decision to pass over the grass field feasibility study due to unresolved environmental issues, Town Meeting attendees passed the motion for a non-binding resolution with a 74% approval vote proposing a multi-purpose indoor sports facility on the same parcels 193-207 Main Street. The resolution asks the Select Board to explore the concept of leasing the parcels to an appropriate third party for the construction and use of the described indoor sports complex.

An additional 44 residents arrived between Article 33 amending Chapter 19 Finance Code and the vote for Article 36 at 10:36 pm generating the highest turnout of the evening with 277 votes or 2.62% of total 10,548 Wayland Voters. 

The motion to pass over Article 29, banning the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs), proved unexpectedly a point of contention. As other neighboring towns have already done, the Conservation Commission proposed banning the use of SGARs because they also accidentally kill other wildlife on town-owned property who consume the dead rodents.

The Select Board wished to pull the article after the warrant published on Town Counsel’s advice regarding conflict with a section of an existing bylaw. Attendees, however, chose to address the issue and defeated the motion to pass over by a narrow majority by one vote. A similarly worded amendment that changed the article to a resolution was then approved 219-20. The resolution states that it is the sense of the Town Meeting to ban the use of SGARs on properties in the care and control of the Town of Wayland.

Below is a summary capsule of all the voted articles on the second night of the Annual Town Meeting.