Thomaston Board of Selectmen
8/18/26 6:01 p.m.
Present: First Selectman Rich Sileo and Selectmen Michael Burr and Beth Campbell.
First Selectman Rich Sileo brought up the question as a subject for discussion at the Board’s Aug. 18 meeting, noting that town residents ask about the subject often.
“I get requests from time to time, people want to bring alcohol into the parks or make requests, things like that,” Sileo said. “I was in the library and I noticed that they were having a function where they were promoting [bring your own beer], and I asked the questions: ‘What's going on? Why do they have that? Are they permitted to do that? Who's okay with that?’”
The questions led Sileo to review the Town’s regulations on drinking in public spaces. What Sileo found were inconsistencies, the First Selectman said. Some local policies reference the Town’s code of ethics as a guiding tool. Thomaston’s code of ethics, Sileo added, prohibits the presence of alcohol on town property. That directive does have some exceptions, however, as the Thomaston Opera House holds a liquor license, Sileo said. The liquor license is held by the Landmark Community Theater.
Sileo said there have been inconsistencies in how permission is granted for certain events to feature drinking on public property. Sileo earlier this year declined allowing the organizers of a running race that ended at Nystrom’s Park to have a beer keg.
Approval of special permits for consumption has a lot of moving parts, Sileo said. For instance, the fire department receives the permit as a nonprofit status and they guarantee having insurance as part of that process. In the case of the permits approved for library events, the Town is granting permission without requiring insurance in case of an incident. A copy of a permit issued to the library in 2023 and displayed during the Aug. 18 meeting for the public also did not feature the signature of any Town official granting approval.
“I don't know why it was accepted without a signature. Personally, I don't know if it's required, but I don't think it's appropriate to do this,” Sileo said. Sileo said he spoke to the Town’s insurance agent as well as the Town’s attorney Mike Rybak for more information.
“There is the possibility of the Friends of the Library, as a separate nonprofit, perhaps securing an additional insurance policy. That would help,” he noted. “But the Town is still going to be always a party to whatever happens.”
The risk of liability is lower at these events given that the Town does not directly dispense alcoholic drinks, Sileo said of Rybak's interpretation.
“If there's a policy over and above the Town, like the one I mentioned that the Friends of the Library could carry… then perhaps they could carry the liability,” Sileo said. “It would help, but not completely relieve the Town.”
For Sileo, two concerns arose from the discussion: one is the liability that could be placed on the town during these events; the other is the lack of consistency in granting these consumption permits.
“I think personally, we probably need to align as a Board on what we should do about this,” Sileo said. “If the board thinks we should do something about this, I would like to have a clear policy as it relates to alcohol on Town properties.”
The Town Board, along with the Thomaston Planning and Zoning Commission, will review the local ordinances at play to decide how to permanently address Sileo’s and the Town Board’s concerns.
