South Thomaston select board moves to let town administrator lock fuel prices, hears emergency-preparedness update

The South Thomaston Select Board on May 27 moved to authorize the town administrator to lock in heating fuel prices for next winter provided propane costs do not exceed this year’s rates, and heard an update on emergency preparedness and grant prospects.

The board’s emergency-management briefing was delivered by Chris Gamage, who said he has been attending county EMA training to get up to speed on disaster-preparedness tasks. "My update for you is I have no update," Gamage said of pending EMA grant status, but added he has enrollment in a July class for town-level EMA directors and has been coordinating with county staff. He described operational tools used in emergencies — pagers, the "I Am Responding" app for fire/EMS alerts, and county coordination through the Knox regional communications hub — and said the town currently has 11 volunteers for warming shelters and two shelter captains.

Why it matters: With limited municipal staff and volunteers, the town’s ability to open warming or cooling shelters during storms depends on reliable volunteer rosters, agreed-upon shelter locations and intergovernmental support from Knox County.

Gamage told the board the town does not operate an overnight shelter; warming-shelter options currently include a local church and the Guilford School, where the board noted a generator is available. The town’s volunteer-insurance status and staffing levels were raised as practical concerns: board members said volunteers should be on the town’s insurance list and acknowledged the difficulty of staffing multiple shelters simultaneously without paid personnel.

The board also discussed local alerting tools. Members recalled a past phone/text sign-up effort that did not reach vendor thresholds and noted the county offers a phone-notification tree by zip code or street that may duplicate a town system. The board asked staff to look into whether reinstating a town-run alert service makes sense given available county tools.

On energy procurement, the chair reported outreach from a vendor contact (relayed from Susan Page) that fuel-oil prices could be locked in at morning market prices, while propane prices had risen. The chair moved to permit the town administrator to lock in fuel oil and propane provided propane would not exceed current-year costs; the motion was seconded and put to the board for a vote. The transcript does not include a roll-call tally.

The board heard that the town’s facilities committee application was included on Representative Pingree’s list of 15 priority projects in Washington — a placement that raises the town’s chance for federal funding but does not guarantee an appropriation. The chair said that, if funded, the town and the facilities committee (with potential nonprofit support) would need to launch fundraising to close any remaining gap. The chair also said no substantive outreach or commitments had been reported from Senator offices at the time of the meeting.

Other business: staff said work on qualifying documents for a solar rebate is ongoing; the town is completing additional IRS forms (990-T, Form 3800 and Form 3468) needed to pursue the investment credit. FEMA reimbursement paperwork was reported as processed and the town is awaiting payment. The board reviewed warrant language to accept a "corrective deed or other appropriate instrument" for a land transaction and discussed whether previously self-imposed conditions on adjacent parcels need administrative correction via a special town meeting.

The board moved to approve a liquor-license application from the Georges River Land Trust for a June 25 fundraiser at Saltwater Fields; the transcript records the motion but does not capture a recorded vote tally.

Next steps: staff will continue work on FEMA and solar-rebate paperwork, follow up on the vendor market rates, research the phone/text alert options and confirm volunteer insurance listings; the board has a public hearing scheduled June 3 on a mineral-extraction moratorium and the annual town meeting is set for June 17.

Representative quotes: "We have 11 volunteers now for the warming shelters and there's two captains of that," Chris Gamage said. The chair summarized vendor outreach: "These rates are not locked in," relaying the vendor's assessment and that fuel oil could be locked at morning prices.

The meeting included routine motions on minutes and warrants and adjourned after scheduling upcoming hearings and the annual town meeting.