Wayland Select Board sends turf field back to town meeting on 4-0-1 vote

WAYLAND -- February 10, 2020, Wayland Select Board sends $3.175 million Loker turf field back to town meeting after 2019 defeat. The board voted 5-0 to insert the article and 4-0-1 to recommend approval, with member Mary abstaining over unanswered questions about a long-term recreation plan. Vice Chair Doug Levine said a third attempt in 2021 would not get his support: the board's authority lets it "not allow an article to come before town meeting." Licensed site professional Ben Gould told members historic soil sampling in the former Dow Chemical septic-leach area showed no metals exceeding state reportable concentrations and said he "would not feel bad" having children play there, though no PFAS testing was done. In separate action, the board authorized $16.215 million in general obligation bonds at 1.479 percent, the lowest rate Hilltop Securities had ever recorded, and unanimously backed a $4.3 million debt-exclusion article for the Loker School roof.