Wayland Public Works board calls transfer station unsustainable as enterprise fund

WAYLAND — April 21, 2026 — Wayland Public Works votes 5-0 to tell Select Board the transfer station no longer works as an enterprise fund. The board, in departing chair George Wegmeyer's final meeting, raised the annual sticker fee from $200 to $225 and the medium bag fee from $9 to $10 but said the increases cannot close a projected $131,000 shortfall driven by an $81,000 OPEB and indirect-cost charge newly assessed this year. Director Tom Holder reported an unexpected $227,000 MWRA invoice for emergency water and $57,458 in unbudgeted loan interest, while new meters have produced "flat consumption" rather than the 6 percent revenue bump built into rates. The board also approved roughly $4,000 in abatement on a $9,209 bill at 227 Rice Road, where member Mike Spellman cited "definitely negligence on the homeowner's part," and voted to begin the watering season with a two-day-per-week outdoor restriction.