Wayland Select Board approves regional substance use coordinator

WAYLAND — July 15, 2024 — Wayland authorizes seven-town substance use coordinator and salvages Saint Anne safe harbor. The Select Board voted 4-0 Monday to authorize Town Manager Michael McCall to sign an inter-municipal agreement creating a regional substance use prevention coordinator hosted by Sudbury and serving Bedford, Concord, Carlisle, Lincoln, Weston and Wayland — funded for Wayland through state Public Health Excellence and MetroWest Health Foundation grants rather than local tax dollars. Health Director Julia Younghans called it the region's "first substance use prevention services." McCall separately reported that the Saint Anne Senior Village project secured its building permit July 10, four days before the deadline that would have cost Wayland its state-recognized safe harbor; the units remain on the Subsidized Housing Inventory through July 2025. The board also appointed Marie Eisenberg and student Alyssa Hale to the Cultural Council and reappointed Gretchen Schuler to the Historic District Commission, and introduced new Facilities Director Michael Fayup, who began Monday as longtime director John Keefe heads toward retirement.