Wayland Personnel Board Adopts Non-Union Leave Policy, Reviews Fire Staffing Study

WAYLAND — June 24, 2026 — Wayland Personnel Board reviews fire staffing study finding department near its operational limits. Fire Chief Neil McPherson told the board at its June 24 remote meeting that an independent 104-page study by Municipal Resources Inc. — funded at 2024 Town Meeting and completed in March 2026 — produced 35 recommendations and concluded the department is "operating near the limits of its current staffing and deployment model," driven in part by assisted living facilities that now account for 30 percent of EMS call volume. McPherson said the department runs at five personnel roughly 73 percent of the time, sometimes leaving only three people in town while an ambulance is on transport, and that the department collects roughly $800,000 annually in ambulance revenue but frequently loses money on Medicare and Medicaid transports that reimburse as little as $300 per call. The board also voted 4-0 to adopt revisions to the Non-Union Annual Leave Policy No. N4-1.2, reverting approximately 35 non-union employees from front-loaded vacation accrual to monthly accrual effective January 1, 2027, with a six-month transition provision for the current fiscal year.