Wastewater committee seeks $526,000 town meeting amendment for plant repairs

WAYLAND -- April 29, 2024, Wayland wastewater panel will seek a $526,000 floor amendment at May 13 town meeting. The Wastewater Management Committee voted 2-0 Monday, with Chair Michael Gitten and member Darrin Bock supporting, to add a new fine screen and aeration diffuser to the fiscal 2025 capital budget through an errata to the omnibus article. DPW Director Thomas Holder said an engineering review cleared the plant's Kubota membranes and pinned the trouble on pretreatment equipment dating to 2010. Administrator Sarah Pawluczonek said consultant Matt Abrahams modeled the 20-year borrowing at $45,000 to $50,000 a year, lifting a planned 8 percent sewer rate increase to about 9.25 percent, "more sustainable," she said, "without dipping into all our other plans." Operations Manager Jared Cotton said skipping the project would force $90,000 drain-and-clean cycles every six to 12 months and risk $300,000 in membrane replacements.