Wayland assessors endorse bylaw simplification, ledger preservation funding

WAYLAND — January 6, 2025 — Wayland assessors back bylaw simplification and a $75,000 ledger preservation article. The Board of Assessors, meeting remotely Jan. 6, endorsed a Select Board proposal to replace the detailed Chapter 19, Section 8 governing the assessors with a condensed six-item Chapter 20, with Chair Zachariah L. Ventress saying members "encourage it to go forward." The director told the board the existing language, adopted roughly a decade ago when residents wanted to hold the office's "feet to the fire," was "an abnormality" compared with peer towns. Members also learned the Community Preservation Committee voted favorably to forward a $75,000 request to town meeting to restore seven 1880s ledgers and buy archival storage. Senior tax work-off participant Kay Gardner-Wescott will return in February for up to 125 hours to continue the cataloging work. Member Douglass McNeilly was congratulated for passing DOR Course 101.