You may not be ready for summer to end but stores are already advertising back-to-school sales of school supplies and clothes. September will be here before we know it and a few weeks after that comes the second half of the Citizens Academy.  The Citizen’s Academy is an opportunity for residents to learn about the work of various town departments.  Participants in the spring sessions learned about the Public Safety Departments, including Fire, Police, and Joint Communication; the Department of Public Works; the library; and responsibilities of several departments in the Town Building, such as the Town Clerk, the Council on Aging, the Recreation Department, and Information Technology.

The departments that will be highlighted in October are the finance departments, land use departments (planning, conservation, building, and health), facilities, and public housing. This is your chance to learn more about Wayland’s revenue streams, how the money is managed and your property assessed, and the meaning of terms such as Proposition 2 ½, overrides, and debt exclusion; how a new development comes about, who ensures that our pools are safe for swimming and a pound of grapes is really a pound, and how our conservation land is property cared for.  And what about all the projects that are approved at Town Meeting—new roofs and the High School stadium and the demolition of the old DPW facility—how do they all get done?  The fourth department in this series is public housing and how it differs from other affordable housing.  We’ll also include the other housing groups, Wayland Housing Partnership and the Municipal Affordable House Trust.

The dates are the first four Thursdays in October, October 3, 10, 17, and 24, starting at 7pm.   Three of the sessions will be held in the Town Building and one in Bent Park Apartments.  Even if you missed the four sessions last spring, you are welcome to join the fall sessions.  You can sign up on the Town’s website or send an email to Mary Antes at mantes@wayland.ma.us.