Wayland wastewater panel backs $320,539 retained-earnings request for FY27

WAYLAND -- January 12, 2026, Wayland's Wastewater Management District Commission voted 3-0 to seek up to $320,539.36 from retained earnings for FY27. The placeholder figure, more than double the $157,000 last year's rate study had projected, leverages roughly $200,000 in privilege fees from new connections and would hold the user-charge increase to 9.85 percent rather than the 14 percent previously forecast, Administrator Sarah Pawluczonek said. DPW Director Tom Holder stressed the amount "is really just a placeholder" that will appear in Article E of the spring Town Meeting warrant. Member Darrin Bock made the motion, seconded by Chair Mike Gitten, with Ed Chiang voting in favor remotely. The allocation covers $144,000 in debt-betterment gap, full small-capital and contingency funding, and $35,000 toward a treatment facility study.