Wayland water panel sends Heard Pond herbicide plan to Conservation Commission

WAYLAND -- December 3, 2024, Wayland's Surface Water Quality Committee headed to Conservation Commission with a long-delayed Heard Pond herbicide plan. Member Thomas J. Largy told the panel Tuesday that he and contractor Solitude Lake Management would present a Notice of Intent to apply Clearcast on water chestnut beds, particularly in the South Cove, after 23 years of hand and mechanical harvesting failed to control the invasive. Roughly 3 million plants have been pulled over the project's life, Largy said, and "mechanical harvesting, many years of hand harvesting, it's not working." Chair Thomas Klem said Solitude's $25,000 estimate to treat 13 acres would consume most of the committee's proposed $30,000 FY26 budget, which also includes $4,000 for Dudley Pond testing and $15,000 for hand-pulling. The committee missed the Nov. 14 Community Preservation Committee application deadline and will look to roll over unspent FY25 funds and a $3,750 Select Board allocation for the NOI filing.