Wayland water committee backs $6,000 herbicide permit for Heard Pond

WAYLAND -- December 18, 2023, Wayland water panel approves $6,000 herbicide permit for Heard Pond cove. The Surface Water Quality Committee voted 4-0 Monday to authorize Solitude Lake Management to file a Notice of Intent for a ClearCast application targeting water chestnut in the pond's Southwest Cove, part of a roughly $23,000 fiscal 2025 plan that also includes hand-pulling across the rest of the 85-acre pond. Member Thomas J. Largy said three herbicide applications would run $11,000 to $12,000, with Solitude's Keith Geisel handling chemicals and Jeff Castellani adding inspection and mapping for about $1,000. "We're better off if we could just kill the plants," Largy said, noting hand-harvesters pulled about 32,000 plants this year. Separately, member Norm Meyerowitz said the Dudley Pond Association is pursuing a used $10,000 conveyor from a Wisconsin vendor, total cost near $15,000 versus $54,000 new, that would be gifted to the town. Chair Thomas Klem said inquiries to Finance Director Brian Keveny about the committee's account balances have stalled: "Keveny's been a black hole."