Wayland Select Board opens debate on overhaul of town government structure

WAYLAND -- May 23, 2018, Wayland Select Board opens debate on shifting budget authority to the town administrator. Chair Mary Antes led a discussion with department heads, library trustees and the Board of Health on a draft special act, prepared with the Collins Center, that would route the town's roughly $44 million non-school budget through the town administrator before Finance Committee review. The Collins Center called Wayland's current setup "severely fragmented." Library trustees and Board of Health Chair John Schuler resisted reporting changes; Town Administrator Nan Balmer said the town must "rebalance these relationships." The board voted 4-0 to authorize a fifth extension of the River's Edge land disposition agreement, a three-year audit contract with Melanson Heath, and Wayland's entry as the eighth member of the Regional Housing Services Office. Special town meeting was set for Nov. 13.