Wayland Select Board rejects 14 West Plain Street purchase in 0-4 vote

WAYLAND — September 29, 2025 — Wayland Select Board kills 14 West Plain Street purchase and sets December ballot question on DPW debt. The board voted 0-4 Monday against acquiring the West Plain Street building despite Library Trustees Chair Aida Jenna calling it ideal for tween and teen programming, with Vice Chair Doug Levine saying the town is in "a particularly difficult set of financial straits" facing a $38.5 million MWRA project. Member Thomas J. Fay pegged comparable new construction at $500-$800 per square foot. The board then voted 5-0 to authorize Town Manager Michael McCall and Finance Director Brian Keveney to issue roughly $8 million in long-term bonds and use bond anticipation notes plus an interest-free general fund transfer to free about $800,000 in FY27 levy capacity, at a cost of $140,000-$150,000 in extra interest. A 4-0-1 vote, with Chair Carol B. Martin abstaining, called a special election by Dec. 20 to reclassify roughly $700,000 in annual debt service on the 66 River Road DPW building, acquired for $11 million in 2013, from levy to excluded debt.