Wayland selectmen finalize three-year police contract with 2-2-2.5 percent raises

WAYLAND -- August 28, 2020, Wayland selectmen announce tentative three-year police union contract and rework warrant articles. Chair Cherry Karlson said the board reached a memorandum of understanding with NEPBA/Wayland Police Officers Union Local 176, with cost-of-living raises of 2 percent, 2 percent and 2.5 percent, a single $55-per-hour detail rate in four-hour segments, comp-time accumulation cut from 50 to 40 hours, and a broadened educational incentive covering degrees beyond criminal justice. The board voted 5-0 to reduce the Article 4 OPEB appropriation to $250,000 and recalculate per-capita contributions to $14,960, and 5-0 to amend the capital budget, trimming the Old Sudbury Road bridge line from $400,000 to $320,000, zeroing a $40,000 high school sound system, and adding $120,000 for COVID-19 ventilation work in public buildings. Town Administrator Louise Miller said Wayland is "one of the top" municipalities in the state for OPEB funding. "This is a unique time and I think that it is a reasonable act," Karlson said.