Wayland wastewater commission sets $22-per-gallon privilege fee in unanimous vote

WAYLAND -- December 14, 2022, Wayland sets tiered wastewater privilege fee and releases 10,000 gallons of new capacity. The Wastewater Management District Commission voted 3-0 on Dec. 14, with Chair Michael Gitten, Darrin Bock and Doug Levine in favor, to charge new users and existing betterment-payers $22 per gallon per day of Title 5 design flow, while previously unconnected properties inside the district that never paid betterments will pay $65.07. Public Works Director Thomas Holder pushed to anchor the written policy at roughly 65,000 gallons per day of operating capacity, well below the plant's 78,000-gallon engineered firm capacity and 89,000-gallon permit, saying the town is "being questioned presently" by developers eyeing the former Whole Foods site. Holder also introduced new Operations Manager Jared Cotton, a Grade 5C operator hired from Veolia. The plant is currently flowing near 23,000 gallons per day.