Letter: Vote Yes for New DPW Building and River's Edge on Route 20

To the editor:

At the upcoming town meeting, residents will vote on two important projects: building a long overdue DPW facility, and creating a Housing Overlay District on Route 20. The latter would enable first rate affordable housing, while helping to offset the cost of a new DPW building. Both projects are wise and necessary investments.

Our current DPW building is deplorable. Built in the 1930s, it is a dilapidated eyesore that fails to serve many of the department’s critical town functions. A patch job, which will be necessary if we fail to fund a new facility, will likely cost $2 million. This is throwing good money down the drain.

The DPW building’s projected new site on River Road, north of the town’s transfer facility, is an ideal location. While concerns have been raised about elevated methane levels at the adjacent landfill, they are not located at the structure’s proposed footprint. Methane is common at landfills and can be easily controlled, likely with a passive ventilation system and under the watchful eye of Wayland’s Department of Health and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Frequent testing will monitor the levels of any methane.

The cost to pay for a new DPW facility will be greatly reduced if we vote to sell town land located at the Route 20 entrance of the current landfill. The property would be rezoned specifically for affordable housing, primarily senior independent living. This exciting effort, River’s Edge, will provide a new source of revenue which, like the Town Center project just down the road, will reduce our residential tax burden. It will eliminate the risk of 40B projects over which the town has little control. This is especially true in the Cochituate area. 

At last year’s town meeting, we approved over $1 million to proceed in the direction of putting the DPW facility on River Road and River’s Edge on Route 20.  Given this clear directive, several town committees and boards have worked hard to study and address the many issues related to these projects during the last 12 months, and they support these articles. Please vote for their completion at this year's Annual Town Meeting, which begins Thursday, April 4 at the High School Field House.

Tom Fay