Wayland selectmen reject open meeting complaint, eye tight FY20 budget

WAYLAND -- November 19, 2018, Wayland selectmen reject open meeting complaint while wrestling with a $938,798 FY20 budget gap. Town Administrator Louise Miller told the board that resident George Harris's Nov. 13 complaint identified no actual violation, saying "there was no real violation of the open meeting law in this instance," though the board voted 5-0 to amend its Oct. 29 minutes after citing the wrong statutory exception for an executive session. Municipal departments requested $938,798 in new spending, a 5.27 percent increase, but only about $390,500 fits the town's guideline. Miller recommended funding a $12,779 bump to make the Board of Health's public health nurse full time and a Personnel Board pay-equity study, offset by $15,000 in IT delays. She also flagged stormwater costs growing from $110,000 in FY20 to a projected $250,000 in FY21 under the MS4 permit, and an estimated $6,100-per-pupil Minuteman construction assessment hitting nine Wayland students.