Wayland water committee awaits Heard Pond weed-control contracts as July deadline nears

WAYLAND — April 21, 2026 — Wayland's Surface Water Quality Committee waits on stalled contracts as Heard Pond treatment window narrows. Chair Tom Clem told the April 21 meeting that a sub-$10,000 Clearcast herbicide quote from Solitude is still being routed for town signatures, and that a separate RFP for water chestnut hand-harvesting — running roughly $12,000 a year and potentially locking in a three-year vendor — could post as soon as April 24. "We've got until July to get this thing in place," Clem said. Tom Largy, a 25-year member, called the new procurement regime "much, much harder" than the old sign-and-file routine. On Dudley Pond, the committee will fall back to lab-only phosphorus and chlorophyll testing — about $2,000 of a $5,000 annual budget — after technician Ben Wetherill left for the private sector.