What's the Status of the Lawsuit Against Wayland?

In early June, a jury ordered Wayland and the town's Wastewater Management District Commission to pay $990,000 in damages to Twenty Wayland, the developer of Wayland Town Center.

The jury agreed with Twenty Wayland, which filed a lawsuit in November 2011, that the town and the WWMDC had breached contract by failing to provide 45,000 gallons per day (gpd) of wastewater treatment capacity to Twenty Wayland.

Town Administrator Fred Turkington explained that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued permission to discharge 28,000 gallons per day and paved the way for the additional 17,000 gallons in phase two with a leaching field at Wayland Town Building. The leaching field construction was put on hold when residents filed comments and requests for a public hearing with the MassDEP.

In addition to the jury's assessed damages, a judge ordered Wayland to pay an additional $238,000 in interest and statutory costs, according to court documents available on WaylandTransparency.com.

Turkington said the town has not yet made a decision on whether to appeal the decision and will perhaps know more after an upcoming Board of Selectmen executive session on July 8.

Should the town have to pay the full $1.2 in damages, Turkington said how to pay that also remains up for discussion.

Because the judgement is related to wastewater, Turkington said, the payment must come from wastewater funds and wastewater users. However, because the contract that was breached is also with the Town of Wayland, some of the payment could possibly come through tax dollars.

Another option, Turkington explained, could be for Twenty Wayland to simply reduce the $2.3 million gift it is obligated to give the town. Doing so would mean Twenty Wayland, a wastewater customer, wouldn't be receiving payment from a fund to which it had been making payments as a wastewater user.

"Who can pay, who should pay and what's the best way to do that?" Turkington said. "There are a number of variables on who pays and how much."

If, Turkington said, the court orders that a portion of the money come from tax dollars, Town Meeting will be presented with the situation. In the end, however, "A judgement of the court can order us to pay it whether Town Meeting agrees with it or not," Turkington explained.