Wayland Select Board reviews four-scenario coronavirus plan, leaves town meeting on calendar

WAYLAND -- March 9, 2020, Wayland plans four-tier coronavirus response as Massachusetts cases climb to 41. Town Administrator Louise Miller told the Select Board on Monday that department managers must return continuity-of-operations plans by Wednesday morning covering scenarios from individual employee absences to a full state of emergency, after Rhode Island declared one shortly before the meeting. Miller said she would not yet recommend canceling annual town meeting, citing the high school field house and potential protocols including spaced chairs and assigned handheld voting devices, but the school department had canceled two concerts that week. "We started a little bit earlier than other towns in terms of inventorying and ordering," Miller said of medical supplies now consolidated at the fire department. The board separately voted 4-0 to recommend the $50,000-trimmed FY21 omnibus budget, pulled a $23,000 Cow Common transfer from its consent calendar after a resident flagged a $3,000 gap with the Conservation Commission's vote, and corrected a Wayland Housing Authority HUD figure from $360,167 to $260,167.