Wayland Board of Health approves rewritten animal-keeping rules for public hearing

WAYLAND — November 14, 2022 — Wayland Board of Health unanimously advances rewritten animal-keeping regulations to a public hearing. The 5-0 vote, on a motion by member Arnie Soslow, would let the health director approve routine backyard-chicken applications administratively while reserving contested cases for the full board; roosters remain barred outright. Chair Robert Defrancesco said the missing definition of "stable" will be inserted before the hearing is noticed for two consecutive weeks. Health Director Julia Junghanns also walked the board through a draft fiscal 2024 budget, which carries a roughly 7 percent salary increase tied to a town-wide AFSCME compensation study and reclassifies the school nurse leader position from 19 hours to a 35-hour, G6 role, with the schools funding the additional 16 hours for one year only. Junghanns said Clean Harbors has stopped returning calls and the town may have no household hazardous waste day in spring or next fall: "We'll be lucky to have one for next fall."