Wayland water committee plans algae testing, locks in Heard Pond contracts

Wayland's Surface Water Quality Committee approved algae testing on Dudley Pond and cleared a $1,027 lab invoice that zeroes its fiscal 2026 budget. Chair Thomas Klem reported that a three-year, under-$50,000 hand-harvesting contract with Solitude Lake Management for Heard Pond water chestnuts avoided a full RFP, and that a meeting with U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Stephanie Koch confirmed last year's ClearCast application stopped at the federal boundary because of high water, not contractor error. Extending treatment onto refuge land will require a special use permit and "won't happen this year," Klem said. Members voted unanimously to first ask the Board of Health to run cyanobacteria toxin testing on a spring algae bloom; if declined, member Steve Garone will route a roughly $250 ARC test through the Dudley Pond Association gift fund. Klem projected the fiscal 2028 ask could approach $100,000.