Wayland Board of Health recommends permit fee hikes in 3-0 vote

WAYLAND — January 5, 2026 — Wayland Board of Health backs permit fee hikes and hears new PFAS warning. The board voted 3-0 Monday, with Chair Robert Defrancesco, Jonathan Storer and Kathryn Holland Stiff in attendance, to recommend raising potable well permits to $300, irrigation well permits to $175, and applying a $75 change-of-use fee to accessory dwelling unit reviews; a $200 late-renewal surcharge was dropped. Resident Tom Sciacca told the board that consultant Ben Gould has now identified the middle school leach field as the dominant PFAS source at the old highway garage site, saying "Wayland kids were exposed to PFAS in the schools, and maybe still are." Staff reported 89 flu cases in December, against eight a year earlier, and 470 vaccines administered since mid-October. A Dec. 18 inspection at 10 Short Drive has produced a legal order citing roof leaks and unsafe electrical heaters.