Wayland Select Board sends $8.9M capital plan to Finance Committee

WAYLAND -- December 7, 2020, Wayland Select Board transmits $8.9M capital plan as schools warn of $800K reopening gap. The board voted 5-0 on Dec. 7 to send a draft fiscal 2022 capital improvement plan to the Finance Committee after Town Administrator Louise Miller and Finance Director Brian Keveney reported departments had requested $73.4 million over five years against roughly $40 million in five-year capacity. Keveney said debt would fund more than half the plan, calling borrowing "the only thing that sustains the town in affording to do capital." Superintendent Arthur Unobskey told the board the schools have already reallocated $877,109 to continue the hybrid model through June, with a phase-one elementary expansion priced at $264,587 and a phase-two K-12 return priced at $541,519 with no identified funding source. Miller separately estimated town-side COVID exposure of $500,000 to $1 million, with unemployment already running $350,000 to $400,000. The board also voted 5-0 to establish a COVID Learning and Safety Support gift account for school pooled testing.