WILTON — The only public building lit up by a generator during last week’s power failure in Wilton is not the town’s designated emergency shelter, Wilton Police Chief Dennis Brown told selectmen this week.

After police officers and firefighters transported several residents to the Public Safety Building, the headquarters for the police and fire departments, there was a lack of supplies for them there, he said. Academy Hill School is the designated site but it lacks a generator and it’s hard to open a school at 2 a.m., he said.

Brown has invited Franklin County Emergency Management Director Tim Hardy to review the setup to see what resources are available and plan for any future incidents.

“Even if it’s only for an hour or two, I don’t want anyone sitting home freezing,” he said, while acknowledging that having the power out all over town was an unusual incident. Several homes went without power for 15-hours over the chilly, windy night.

Cots and other materials previously located at the Public Safety Building were moved to the school, leaving a lack of cots and seating for people to stay, he said.

Wilton Police and Fire departments do more than just make arrests and fight fires, Brown said. He reported on a police program using volunteers to check on enrolled residents by phone, the Wilton Citizen Outreach Program. The program started this week. More volunteers have signed up and an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, Isaac Firth, presently working at the United Way of the Tri Valley Area, has offered to help on the project, he said.

Fliers about the program have been distributed at the library, post office and other sites around town. Referrals of people who could benefit from the program are welcome by calling the department at 645-3876.

The department is also looking into ways to increase patrol car coverage to all Wilton streets after some residents made the request, he said. A plan to have a patrol car not only drive through each street at least once a week but to stop and talk with residents as time allows is under consideration, he said.

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