Wayland Select Board ratifies new fire chief, appoints acting town clerk

WAYLAND -- March 25, 2019, Wayland Select Board ratifies new fire chief and installs acting town clerk before April town meeting. The board on March 25 unanimously ratified Town Administrator Louise Miller's selection of Neil McPherson as fire chief effective July 1, and voted 3-0 to appoint former clerk Lois Toombs as acting town clerk effective March 31 after Beth Klein's resignation. Members backed the $87 million fiscal 2020 budget 3-0 despite frustration that the Finance Committee declined to fund an additional firefighter and administrative help, and split 2-1 on inserting a Snake Brook Dam design article, with Chair Cherry Carlson opposed. Residents Bill Sterling and Jean Milburn pressed the board to take Twenty Wayland parcels by eminent domain for the Council on Aging community center; Sterling said the developer "appears to have no intention of fulfilling their obligation." Miller said the town will refile its Loker Field notice of intent after a 2-2 Conservation Commission tie.