Water Panel Approves $9,900 Heard Pond Harvest Contract Payment

Surface Water Quality Committee · Meeting of September 16, 2026

Wayland water panel presses contractor over delayed Heard Pond harvest, OKs $9,900 season contract. The Surface Water Quality Committee voted 3-0 to pay Solitude for the final four days of hand-pulling water chestnut on Heard Pond, completing a seven-day, $9,900 contract, but member Thomas J. Largy warned harvesting crews may have missed the early-August cutoff before seeds drop, calling any late-season work "a breach of contract." On Dudley Pond, member Steve Garone reported mechanical harvesters pulled more than 200,000 pounds of invasive plants over six weeks, roughly double last year's total, saying "it's starting to feel like a losing battle." The committee is also pursuing a MassDEP grant to fund a $55,000-to-$70,000 nutrient study with Aquatic Restoration Consulting, due in October.

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Source: the Surface Water Quality Committee meeting of September 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.