It has been an exciting and busy year for the newly elected Board of Public Works. The BoPW was created along with the Department of Public Works at the April 2008 town meeting and came into existence in July 2009. The current members of the BoPW were elected at the town elections in May 2010. The BoPW’s responsibilities include overseeing and setting policy for DPW operations involving highways, parks, water, landfill and cemeteries. The BoPW meets typically on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at town building, and often more frequently. Our meeting agendas are posted on the Town of Wayland’s updated website (www.wayland.ma.us), and residents are encouraged to come by and see what’s up at the Works.
The BoPW is at work on several key initiatives that potentially impact every resident in town. In collaboration with the Director of Public Works, other town boards and the town administrator, the BoPW has a busy agenda for 2011 including:
- implement a formal traffic calming policy that will provide a process for residents to petition the BoPW for traffic calming measures (i.e., speed humps, raised crosswalks, street lights) in their neighborhoods to improve the safety of both pedestrians and bicyclists;
- explore consolidation efforts with the town of Sudbury on transfer station sharing and consider one transfer station to service both communities in a continuing effort to control costs;
- continue with flood mitigation efforts for high risk areas following last spring’s severe rainfall, including new pumps, piping and other equipment;
- consider alternatives for the current DPW facility, which is in dire need of replacement based on its age and condition;
- restructure water rates and capital fees for residents and businesses to create more equity among different categories of users;
- closely monitor and meet all deadlines for the Route 27 & 30 traffic redesign in Cochituate village, while ensuring that the aging water main that runs underneath the intersection is replaced prior to the intersection redesign;
- evaluate and present at town meeting a fixed network meter reading system in an effort to modernize our water-reading system, conserve water, and reduce costs over time;
- work with the Recreation Commission to prioritize upgrades to existing fields and new athletic fields to meet the town’s growing recreational demands across all ages and activities as identified and recommended in the Gale Associates field master plan;
- develop and implement a wellhead protection plan as recommended by the advisory Wellhead Protection Committee to protect the town’s water resources into the future.
We view 2011 as a year of many challenges and opportunities to improve the infrastructure and delivery of services to town residents, while also pursuing strategies to control costs by focusing on collaborating of services and creating greater efficiency.
The members of the Board of Public Works are Tom Abdella, Chris Brown, Eric Knapp, Jon Mishara and Michael Wegerbauer.
