Wayland Select Board closes Dec. 6 special town meeting warrant in 4-0 vote

WAYLAND — November 1, 2023 — Wayland Select Board closes warrant for one-article Dec. 6 special town meeting. The board voted 4-0 Wednesday to close the warrant and set the high school auditorium as the location, beginning at 6:45 p.m., rejecting a 7:04 p.m. email request from the Wayland Education Support Association to add a contract-funding article. Town Manager Michael McCall said the request lacked the 100 registered-voter signatures required under MGL Chapter 39, Section 10. Chair William Whitney called adding it "a bad precedent." Resident Dave Bernstein urged the board to keep electronic voting, noting the 2021 special town meeting drew 507 voters at a $22,000 cost — "less than $2 for every Wayland resident." Town Clerk Trudy Reed offered a paper-ticket alternative; the voting-method decision was deferred to Nov. 6. The board also unanimously accepted an open-space donation at 57 Shaw Drive.