Wayland Finance Committee questions $2.5 million high school baseball field plan

WAYLAND — February 11, 2026 — Wayland Finance Committee questions $2.5M ballfield plan inside a $12.3M FY27 capital budget. Town Manager Michael McCall and Finance Director Brian Keveny presented a proposal roughly $4 million above the Capital Improvement Planning Committee's $8.3 million recommendation, with CIPC Chair Kelly Lappin saying her panel could not get a site plan showing how a $2 million high school Title V wastewater project would disrupt the diamonds. McCall wants both bundled as excluded debt near the town's $5 million policy threshold; the baseball estimate is extrapolated from a 2017 study. DEP has barred the town from continuing to truck wastewater at roughly $10,000 a month. Fifteen unplanned items entered FY27, including a $471,500 town building elevator and a $359,722 middle school hot water system, while water rates are projected to rise 74 percent by 2029 to fund a $38 million MWRA connection. The committee approved Feb. 9 minutes 7-0 and meets again Feb. 18.