Wayland selectmen adopt private-roads plowing policy over emotional public objections

WAYLAND -- May 16, 2018, Wayland selectmen vote 4-0 to limit town plowing of private roads. The Board of Selectmen formally adopted a Board of Public Works policy restricting municipal plowing to private ways that are open to public use, connect two or more public roads or serve more than three dwellings, and can be plowed without backing onto a main road; a second 4-0 vote designated 44 private roads that will continue to be plowed. BPW Chair Mike Lowry said town counsel had advised the town "should not be plowing private roads" at all under state law. Resident Gail Shapiro told the board she has paid $3,890 for private plowing since the 2015 cutoff, asking "do you want me here or not?" DPW Director Tom Holder said the fire chief could not recall a case where emergency vehicles arrived before a town plow. Selectman Doug Levine said the board needed an equitable rule rather than continuing a patchwork of historical practice.