Wayland Voters Approve New DPW Facility

In a 441-189 vote, Wayland special town meeting voters approved a $12.7 million appropriation for a new Department of Public Works facility during its Nov. 20 town meeting.

The new facility will be built on town-owned land on River Road and Route 20.  and River Road will be used to access it. 

The new facility will replace the current facility on Cochituate Road. The current facility is in bad condition and is unsafe for workers, according to town officials.

The approval came after a lengthy debate centering around access to the site through River Road and the disrepair of the current facility.

SUPPORT FOR PROJECT

Selectman Joseph Nolan, who gave the main speech in favor of the project, said the current building badly needs replacement because it is unsafe and does not meet the town’s current operational needs. “Wayland desperately needs a new DPW facility today,” he said.

-Nolan said the project would only become more expensive if it was delayed. “There is no higher priority for Wayland at this time,” he said.

-Resident Richard Turner said he supported the article mainly because the current building is in dire need of repair. “This building has been discussed and discussed. This building needs to be replaced,” he said.

Permanent Municipal Building Committee Chairman Tom Abdella addressed Sudbury's concerns with having truck traffic travel into their town on Old County Road saying if they did issue restrictions, they would be causing traffic issues in their town. He also said DPW sanding trucks had been using River Road since 2007 without any issues.

OPPOSITION

-Paul Doerr, who gave the main opposition speech against the building, said he supported building a new DPW facility, but opposed the article mainly because of the River Road access issue. He said the River Road community had previously supported prior proposals for the building, but with assurances that River Road would not be used as the access road. Dore said problems could arise for DPW trucks if the road floods, which he said has occurred about every two years.

-Doerr also said Sudbury had opposed allowing Wayland DPW trucks using Old County Road (which extends from River Road into Sudbury) to access the site. 

-Resident Dorothy Dunlay told the audience she opposed the article because the planning process was “flawed.” Dunlay cited the flooding issues as one as one reason for her opposition. “I cannot understand how planning and expenditures of money got this far without knowing there might be no access to this site,” she said. 

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