Wayland Select Board forms subcommittee for resident listening sessions

WAYLAND -- January 9, 2017, Wayland Select Board names two-member subcommittee for resident listening sessions. The board on Monday unanimously appointed members Mary Antes and Lee Anderson to lead roughly 10 sessions in January and February, after Town Administrator Nan Balmer reported that town counsel had concluded the gatherings cannot be treated as informal focus groups and must be posted under the Open Meeting Law in accessible public locations. The board also voted to advance four warrant articles to the 2017 annual town meeting, including converting the elected town clerk to an appointed position and a measure allowing legal permanent resident aliens to vote at town meeting, but declined to forward a clarification of a bylaw on participation by non-resident officials. Petitioner Paul Dale told the board he will file articles banning single-use plastic bags and polystyrene takeout containers, citing "serious carcinogenic concerns."