CPC trims pool request, conditions Stonebridge funding ahead of town meeting

WAYLAND — January 11, 2024 — Wayland CPC finalizes warrant articles, trimming the pool request after state guidance bars bubble funding. Chair Susan Weinstein relayed advice from the Community Preservation Coalition's Stuart Saginor that CPA dollars cannot pay for the seasonal pool enclosure or related scaffolding, dropping the pool article from $371,000 to $296,000 on a unanimous roll-call vote. The committee recommended $400,000 for Stonebridge restoration — $100,000 historic, $300,000 uncommitted — with language requiring an RFP be issued promptly, citing past contractors who walked away. Katherine Gardner Wescott pushed the town clerk's records preservation request up to $100,000, demanding the work meet Historical Commission standards and avoid vendors flagged for chemical treatments "that affect the paper and the ink." Members also backed $154,000 for Cochituate ball field improvements — supplementing a $250,000 gift from Eliza's Foundation — and released $100,000 in unused Launch Your Way funds back to the uncommitted pot.