Viewer’s Top 10 of 2025

Wayland is pursuing a $38 million plan to connect to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) water system and construct a new PFAS treatment plant to address contamination in the town’s water supply. This ambitious project is aimed at securing a clean and resilient drinking water source – a need underscored by a recent PFAS-related failure at the Happy Hollow well facility that forced the town to rely on an emergency MWRA hookup for over a month. Town officials are actively deliberating how to finance the project’s substantial cost (through borrowing and possible state aid), as funding remains to be finalized for the roughly $38 million endeavor and its related regulatory requirements.
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Sherman’s Bridge, which links Wayland and Sudbury, faces urgent repair needs amid a decades-old informal maintenance arrangement between the two towns. Officials warn that MassDOT may close the bridge if a long-delayed deck replacement (estimated at $1.65 million using a modern glued-laminated timber system) is not undertaken soon. MassDOT has offered $325,000 toward materials for the project, leaving about $850,000 for each town to fund, and the situation has highlighted the lack of any formal written agreement on sharing responsibility for the 50-year-old bridge’s upkeep – prompting calls to clarify and renegotiate the inter-town deal. Full Article

The St. Philopater Mercurius & St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church has proposed building a large new religious campus on Rice Road in Wayland, a designated scenic road. The scale of the project – revealed at a church meeting – surprised and concerned nearby residents, who were reportedly “stunned” by its magnitude and potential impacts on their neighborhood’s character. The proposal is undergoing careful scrutiny: Wayland’s Planning Board and Conservation Commission held a joint meeting on Dec. 3 to review peer engineering comments, as the church’s plan must navigate environmental regulations and zoning (with protections for religious uses under the Dover Amendment) before any construction can proceed. Full Article

The Carroll School (a private school for students with language-based learning disabilities) is planning a major expansion of its Wayland campus on Waltham Road, aiming to increase capacity from about 50 students to 250 students over the next 10–15 years. The proposal calls for replacing two small buildings with a new two-story academic building (~47,500 square feet total) and expanding parking to 118 spaces, as well as establishing a 20 mph school zone along the road to improve safety amid the expected traffic increase. Although the project conforms to local zoning (under the state’s Dover Amendment for educational institutions), town officials and residents have raised concerns about traffic and parking – the Planning Board’s review has focused on the potential for congestion on narrow nearby roads and ensuring the five-fold enrollment increase doesn’t overwhelm the area. Full Article

Wayland has confronted several disturbing hate incidents, including racist graffiti at the town’s community pool and an alleged racially motivated act at Wayland High School, that have shaken the community. In March, a swastika was found painted on the pool’s fence, and in a late-October high school incident a Black student’s football jersey was draped on a child-sized traffic figure hung from a pipe – a display that initially raised fears of a hate crime. Police and school investigations later determined the high school incident, while hurtful, was not intended as a racist threat, but the fallout prompted an emotional public forum on Nov. 10 where residents demanded greater transparency and bias education; town officials acknowledged the pain caused and pledged to “do better” in responding to racism and hate in Wayland. Full Article

A Lifestyle brand Terrain (owned by URBN, the parent of Anthropologie/Urban Outfitters) is set to open a new complex at the former Whole Foods plaza on Boston Post Road, bringing an eclectic mix of uses to the long-vacant site. The plans include a garden and home retail store along with a 4,500-square-foot farm-to-table café, plus a 9,000-square-foot event hall (175-seat capacity) for functions like weddings – all under the Terrain brand’s emphasis on outdoor living and horticultural décor. The property’s sale was finalized in October 2025 and the project secured unanimous Zoning Board approval in May 2025, with the developer reusing the existing buildings (instead of expanding the footprint); despite some neighbors’ worries about added Route 20 traffic and competition (nearby Russell’s Garden Center voiced concern that Terrain’s garden décor and plant sales will overlap with their business), officials view this as a significant commercial addition that can revitalize the corridor. Full Article

Wayland voters considered a debt exclusion ballot question in a special election on Dec. 11, deciding whether to shift remaining debt from the 2013 construction of the DPW facility (about $5.2 million outstanding) outside the limits of Proposition 2½. This measure does not authorize new spending, but rather reclassifies existing debt: by exempting the roughly $700,000 annual DPW building payments from the tax levy cap, the town would free up levy capacity in future budgets for other operating needs. The proposal was narrowly approved – 328 in favor to 297 opposed(approximately 52% yes) – meaning those DPW bonds will be paid as excluded debt going forward. Town officials note that FY2026 tax bills are unaffected, but starting in FY2027 the town gains critical breathing room in its budget, potentially reducing pressure for an override and helping to stabilize finances. Full Article

Wayland celebrated the grand opening of its new Council on Aging/Community Center on June 5, 2025 – a much-anticipated facility at 8 Andrew Ave. (near Russell’s Garden Center) that provides a dedicated home for senior services and community events. The ribbon-cutting ceremony featured tours showcasing the building’s thoughtful design, including zero-emissions energy features and flexible spaces to accommodate groups of various sizes, as well as festivities with food, music, and family activities to inaugurate the center. In the months since opening, the COA center has quickly become a vibrant hub for Wayland’s older adults – offering everything from fitness classes and hybrid online programs to educational workshops and lively social gatherings (the monthly “Pizza Café” and seasonal events regularly draw dozens of attendees) – greatly expanding opportunities for seniors to stay active and connected in the community. Full Article

The former DPW site at 195 Main St. – historically used as the town’s DPW garage and a landfill/burn dump – has been found to have significant soil and groundwater contamination, including volatile petroleum compounds and PFAS chemicals leaching into the groundwater. At the April 2025 Town Meeting, residents overwhelmingly approved $250,000 for initial environmental cleanup of the site, and the town’s Licensed Site Professional outlined remediation options ranging from full excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil (costing an estimated $200–400k but providing the cleanest result) to in-situ chemical treatments or simply capping the area with a vapor barrier (a much cheaper ~$13–25k option that would leave contaminants in place but restrict future building on that spot). State environmental regulations require Wayland to address the pollution, given the site’s proximity to the town’s aquifer, and officials stress that no new use of the property can move forward until the cleanup is complete – in fact, plans to consider recreation facilities (like a sports field or indoor sports complex) on the 193–207 Main St. parcels have been put on hold or made conditional pending successful remediation of the DPW site. Full Article

The Wayland Post was launched by Dave Watkins – a Wayland resident and former Select Board member – to reinvigorate local journalism in town at a time when traditional local newspapers had been hollowed out. It operates as a nonprofit community newspaper that relies on reader donations and advertising to cover costs like printing and distribution, while most of its staff are dedicated volunteers contributing their time to report and produce stories. The Post’s mission is to keep Wayland residents informed and connected through reliable local news and community storytelling, filling a crucial gap in hyper-local coverage – a mission that has resonated, as hundreds of households have contributed support to sustain Wayland’s only hometown news source. Full Article