FARMINGTON — The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted Tuesday to spend up to $400 to furnish motel rooms for Lac-Megantic officials when they visit for an Oct. 12 benefit concert.

Plans include reserving four rooms for the four couples at the Wilson Lake Inn in Wilton for a total of $356. The funds will be taken from the town’s special events account.

The Lac-Megantic mayor, police chief, the director of their equivalent to a Chamber of Commerce, the mayor of an adjoining city and their spouses are expected to attend, board Chairman Ryan Morgan said.

The concert, featuring several local groups, is planned from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at the University of Maine at Farmington dining hall in Olsen Student Center.

Morgan told the board he considered the Wilson Lake Inn, which overlooks Wilton’s lake, for the couples because it would probably remind the Lac-Megantic couples of home. The Quebec town is next to a lake named for Lac-Megantic.

During the evening, funds raised through the Lac-Megantic Relief Fund will be given to the Lac-Megantic officials. The Farmington board started the account.

“The fund is now over $32,000,” Town Manager Richard Davis told the board Tuesday.

Morgan would like to give a portion of the fund now and keep the account at TD Bank open for up to a year for any future donations, including those raised on Oct. 12, he said Wednesday. He plans to suggest it to board members.

Morgan and Tom Saviello, state senator and selectman from Wilton, are organizing and will emcee the event. 

Gov. Paul LePage was invited and was expected to come, but has now declined, Morgan told the board. 

Congressional leaders have been invited to speak between musical performances, he said.

Franklin County firefighters, the first to respond to Lac-Megantic’s devastating train derailment and resulting fire in the early hours of July 6, will be recognized during the evening.

A silent auction and a regular auction of gifts will also take place, Morgan said.

Admission to the concert is a $10 wristband. Morgan just received 600 of the small, white wristbands, he said, showing the board the one he wore.

The wristbands are available at Mooseville and County Seat Realty in downtown Farmington and at Madore’s Market in West Farmington.

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