Wayland selectmen map tight timeline for library debt-exclusion vote

WAYLAND -- September 18, 2017, Wayland selectmen brace for a compressed Proposition 2½ schedule on a new library. Town Counsel Carolyn Murray of KP Law told the board on Sept. 18 that statutory notice and town policy require at least 50 days between a library trustees' request and an election, with state certification of funding due Jan. 12. The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners decides Oct. 6 whether to grant an extension that would shift the vote to April and save roughly $12,000 in special election costs. The board's consensus leaned toward a January election after the Nov. 14 special town meeting, accepting weather risk because, as Murray warned, "the only way to stop that election once the board of selectmen votes to call it is to get a court order." The board also previewed FY19 capital requests including a $1.2 million network replacement, $3.6 million for a high school stadium, $1 million for Fire Station 2 and $230,000 for Munis revenue modules, and voted 5-0 to approve the FY17 annual report.