Wellesley Board of Health Unanimously Approves HRS Mental Health Contract for Fiscal Year 2027

WELLESLEY — June 25, 2026 — Wellesley Board of Health approves Human Relations Service contract for fiscal year 2027 and flags rising tick-borne illness cases. The board voted unanimously at its June 25 meeting to renew the HRS mental health services agreement, effective July 1, at a rate increased from last year in line with approved budget guidelines; Town Counsel had already reviewed the contract. Chair Marcia Testa Simonson, MPH, PhD and Vice Chair Linda Oliver Grape, PA-C, MPH agreed to invite HRS leadership to a future fall meeting to address what Testa Simonson called a structural gap — "mental health doesn't end at the end of the school year" — in children's mental health continuity after the academic calendar closes. Public Health Nurse Anne-Marie reported 14 Lyme disease cases and two anaplasmosis cases in Wellesley since the May 7 board meeting, while staff flagged emerging threats from Lone Star ticks, now confirmed in Massachusetts, which can transmit Alpha-Gal syndrome on the initial bite. Morse's Pond beach is fully open with lifeguards and E. coli levels well below the 235-colony regulatory threshold; Longfellow's completely reconstructed outdoor pool complex is now targeting an August 1 opening, with the lap pool possibly ready by mid-July pending Health Department inspection.