Wayland health board absorbs $25,000 in budget cuts as override is avoided

WAYLAND — February 24, 2025 — Wayland Board of Health takes $25,000 hit and braces for $10 million PFAS cleanup. At the Feb. 24 meeting, the health director told members the town manager's office cut $20,000 from the substitute-nursing line, $1,500 from a $4,500 overtime account, and an additional $3,500 to help close the fiscal 2026 gap without an override. Cleanup estimates at the old DPW site at 195 Main St., which sits in the Zone II recharge area for the Happy Hollow wells, have climbed from roughly $100,000 to about $10 million because the parcel must be remediated to drinking-water standards. A scheduled discussion of lifeguard requirements at the Avalon-Oxbow semi-public pool under 105 CMR 435.000 stalled when manager Katie Nash did not appear. The department also learned its Rise and Care grant application for a police-based co-response clinician was denied. Kathryn Holland Stiff is unopposed for the open board seat in April, and Dr. Genevieve Anand is running again.