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Dear Friends,
Despite a record turnout and an 80% majority vote at Town
Meeting last April, the Town Center project is dead - and with
it a key piece of the Finance Committee's long range plan to
provide adequate revenue to maintain services without annual
overrides.
While much can be debated about what brought the project to
its current state, the facts are clear about where we stand now.
We need to explore the alternatives to salvage this critical
project.
Please read below for the facts, some options we are
evaluating and what you can do.
Save Our Services
Lori Frieling, Paulette Greene, Cynthia Lavenson and Lisa Valone
If you have questions, comments or would like to help, please
email info@soswayland.org.
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Town Center - The Facts
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- Tuesday night 1/16 , the developer spoke at the
Board of Selectmen's meeting and said they will no longer
pursue the Town Center project. Their primary reason was
that the leadership of critical boards (Planning Board and
Board of Road Commissioners) was not allowing for a process
that is expeditious and fair.
- The Finance Committee's Long Range Plan to maintain
services and avoid annual overrides has 6 key steps and
includes "Expand our commercial tax base (town center)".The
Finance Committee Chair reiterated this during public comment
at the 1/16 meeting.
- Potential Revenue Critical - The Finance Committee
determined that using the property for a mixed use development
(town center) rather than a 40(B) project would provide the
greatest net revenue for the town.
- The Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen support
this project and have backed it since before Special Town
Meeting in May 2006.
- Record turnout at the May 2006 Special Town Meeting
lead to an 80% majority vote in favor of developing a Town
Center.
- Due to the by-law passed at Special Town Meeting the
Planning Board (PB) is the permit granting authority for
the Master Special Permit Process for Town Center.
- The current chair of the PB, along with the associate
member, have opposed Town Center since it was first conceived.
The associate member and chair of the PB drive much of the
process and set the tone for the meetings.
- The property of the Town Center site is owned by the
Congress Group and KGI Properties. If town boards do not
provide an open, expeditious and fair process, it is the
owner's right to opt for a different use of the property.
Developing another project such as a 40(B) would require much
less interaction with the town than the Town Center project .
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Options Moving Forward
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- Change the Leadership of the Critical Boards -
People have asked us if it is possible to call for the
resignation of the chair. We are not clear on the legal
aspects of this. The chair is elected by 3 out of 5 votes of
the full members and a vote can be initiated by any member of
the board at any time.
- Change the Members of the Critical Boards -
Positions are up for election in April. We could elect
qualified candidates with relevant work or board experience
who could garner the 3 votes needed to be chair and see if the
town could bring the developers back to the table.
- Change the Authorizing Board for the Project -
concerned citizens have posed the question if this is
possible. A grass roots effort resulting in a petitioner's
article could be filed that would shift the oversight to
another board, for example the Board of Selectmen or Zoning
Board of Appeals. This would require a 2/3 majority vote at a
Special Town Meeting at the end of April.
- Sit back and do nothing (not an option in our view!)
- the developers will most likely evaluate the current
market and decide whether to go ahead with an alternative such
as a 40(B) housing project that will generate far less tax
revenue for the town. The town will lose out on a major
revenue stream which will be felt beginning in 2009 and
services will be cut if overrides of correct magnitude are not
passed.
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What You Can Do - Let Your Voice Be Heard
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Email Town Boards:
- Board of Selectmen at selectmen@wayland.ma.us.
Members are: Joe Nolan (chair) Michael Tichnor, Bill Whitney,
Doug Leard and Alan Reiss. (all emails will be printed and
distributed to all five members)
- Planning Board - c/o Joe Laydon (town planner)
jlaydon@wayland.ma.us Board members are: Albert Montague,
Daniel Mesnick, Lawrence Stabile, Christopher Seveney, Lynne
Dunbrack (chair) and Anette Lewis (associate member)
- Finance Committee - c/o Michael Dipietro (town
finance director) mdipietro@wayland.ma.us Committee members
are: Cherry Karlson(chair), Christopher Riley, Charles
D'Ambrosio, Bob Lentz, Sam Peper, Richard Stack, Karl Geiger.
Speak at public meetings:
Click here for schedule and agendas at town's web site
- Next Planning Board Meeting is Monday, January 22nd at
7:30 at Town Building (agenda will by posted by Jan 19 at noon
so you can check the time of public comment).
- Next Board of Selectmen's Meeting will be on Tuesday,
January 23 at 7 p.m. in Town Building and public comment is
usually at the beginning, but check the agenda on the Town
website.
- Next Finance Committee Meeting has not yet been posted.
If you can't attend meetings, watch cable channel 9 for
live and rerun video of meetings. For a schedule, go to
www.wayland.ma.us/WayCAM/listings.htm WAYCAM does a great job
covering these meetings.
Write a Letter to the Editor of the Crier - the deadline
is Monday at noon. Email Mike Wyner at Mwyner@cnc.com.
Let us know what you think and if you can help -
either cc info@soswayland.org when you write the boards or email
us directly. |
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SOS: Mission
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Save Our Services is a grass roots coalition with a far-reaching
mission to preserve Wayland's services and quality of life by
exploring ways to:
- Increase state and federal aid and lessen mandates that
restrict our flexibility to reduce costs
- Explore alternative revenue sources to fund all services
- Relieve the tax burden on our residents through an
expanded commercial tax base
- Draw on the expertise of residents in the areas of
rationalizing costs in support of the FY 2007 Ad Hoc Budget
Committee.
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