Wayland FinCom rejects Sherman's Bridge petitions, approves unemployment transfer

WAYLAND — March 11, 2026 — Wayland FinCom approves $45,841 unemployment transfer and rejects five Sherman's Bridge petitions. The committee voted 6-0 on March 11 to transfer $45,841.95 from the Reserve Fund to reimburse the state for unemployment claims, with Vice Chair Cliff Barnes citing compounding interest and a state rule extending benefits from 26 to 30 weeks. Members unanimously recommended Article B on prior-year bills and Article E, the $9,515,632 enterprise fund budget, which raises the water operating budget 28 percent largely on $1.1 million in new debt service. Article DD, a $200,000 study of 25 Holiday Road, passed 4-2. Five Sherman's Bridge citizen petitions — a second walkway, a five-ton weight limit, a 20 mph zone, a heavy commercial vehicle ban and two calls to renegotiate a 1971 neighborhood agreement town counsel says was never put in writing — all failed. The capital budget vote was deferred to March 16 after the town pulled a $2 million high school baseball field project members said belongs back in the five-year plan.