SECTION 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

St. George and South Thomaston have strong community institutions, a nationally significant working-waterfront economy, extensive natural lands, and residents accustomed to adapting to coastal conditions. The assessments also identify connected risks: storms and sea-level rise threaten roads and waterfront access; an aging population increases health and mobility needs; rising housing and energy costs strain households and employers; and dependence on private wells, electricity, and single-road corridors can magnify disruption.

Principal Findings

• Fishing and marine-related activity underpins the peninsula economy. The assessment reports more than 80 percent of businesses in both towns as directly or indirectly connected with fishing, licensed vessels, or supporting activity.
• Coastal flooding, storm surge, stronger storms, and reliance on Routes 73 and 131 are rated among the most severe economic risks.
• Nearly half of parcels may experience some level of impact from projected sea-level rise. Vulnerable assets include roads, bridges, culverts, working waterfronts, municipal buildings, recreation areas, and historic or cultural sites.
• About 40 percent of the combined population is age 65 or older, compared with 22 percent statewide. Nineteen percent of households consist of an older adult living alone.
• Public-health concerns center on extreme heat and cold, tick-borne disease, drinking-water and drought risks, and longer or more frequent power outages.
• The 2024 greenhouse-gas inventory estimates 35,875 MT CO2e annually. Buildings and stationary energy account for 58 percent, transportation 29 percent, and waste 13 percent.
• Forests and natural lands absorb an estimated 39,506 MT CO2e each year while also supporting water quality, habitat, and coastal resilience.

The Central Resilience Challenge

Many vulnerabilities reinforce one another. A washed-out road is an infrastructure failure, an emergency-access problem, a health risk for residents who need care, and an economic disruption for waterfront businesses. Housing costs affect the ability to recruit health-care, school, construction, and emergency workers. Energy costs affect household health, business costs, and emissions. The Community Resilience Plan should therefore evaluate actions across multiple benefits rather than treating each assessment as a separate work program.

SECTION 2

ABOUT THE ASSESSMENT

In early 2025, St. George and South Thomaston received $123,000 through Maine's Community Resilience Partnership to develop a Community Resilience Plan. The towns' Resilience Committees are leading the work. The plan will identify actions that town governments, schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and residents could lead, together with potential funding sources.

The assessment package includes economic, infrastructure, social, and public-health vulnerability findings and a community-wide greenhouse-gas inventory. The Social Vulnerability Assessment also draws on 15 interviews involving 18 people, public meetings held in each town in October 2025, and national and state datasets.

How Findings Are Presented

Data Limitations

Local estimates should be interpreted carefully. American Community Survey estimates are based on annual samples combined across five years and can carry wide margins of error for small towns. Some health indicators are available only for census tracts or Knox County. The greenhouse-gas inventory excludes marine fuel use. Infrastructure lists identify assets requiring further evaluation and do not by themselves establish project design, cost, ownership, or priority.

SECTION 3

OUR COMMUNITIES

St. George and South Thomaston are coastal communities whose year-round population, working waterfronts, natural resources, public facilities, and local institutions are closely connected. According to the Social Vulnerability Assessment, the two towns include approximately 4,032 residents in 1,946 households.

Aging and Household Composition

The combined population is considerably older than Maine as a whole. Forty percent of residents are age 65 or older, and 59 percent of households include at least one person age 65 or older. Nearly one in five households consists of one older adult living alone. The regional population is expected to continue aging, increasing demand for home health care, transportation, meal delivery, emergency medical services, and home-maintenance assistance.

Source: Social Vulnerability Assessment; U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019–2023; CDC PLACES 2021–2022.

Income Housing and Workforce

Median household income across the two towns is higher than the statewide median, but 30 percent of households report annual income below $50,000 and 16 percent of residents are below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Housing prices have risen beyond the reach of many working families, affecting employers' ability to recruit workers and the communities' ability to retain younger households.

Source: Social Vulnerability Assessment; ACS 2019–2023; Maine Governor's Office Hunger Dashboard 2023.

SECTION 4

CLIMATE CONDITIONS AND HAZARDS

The assessments consistently identify storms, flooding, sea-level rise, temperature extremes, drought, and changing ecological conditions as the hazards most likely to affect community life. Contributors often used specific terms such as severe weather, winter storms, washouts, big tides, warming waters, damage, loss, and disruption.

Coastal Flooding and Sea Level Rise

Rising sea levels increase the frequency and permanence of inundation in low-lying areas. The infrastructure assessment indicates that nearly half of parcels could experience some degree of projected sea-level-rise impact. Roads, bridges, culverts, waterfront facilities, municipal buildings, recreation areas, homes, and cultural sites may be exposed.

Coastal Storms and Inland Flooding

Stronger storms and higher surge levels threaten roads, bridges, culverts, working waterfronts, and emergency access. Heavy rainfall can overwhelm drainage systems and rivers, affect parcels and buildings, and isolate locations served by a single road. Basement flooding, roof damage, downed trees, mold, and property access create added burdens for residents with mobility or health limitations.

Heat Cold and Drought

Maine is warming overall while continuing to experience dangerous cold and variable extremes. The public-health assessment cites longer heat waves and severe drought conditions. Extreme heat can worsen cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, while cold and power loss can threaten households that rely on electric heating or medical equipment. Drought may stress private wells and increase the risk of saltwater intrusion or contamination.

Changing Marine and Disease Conditions

Warming waters and changes on the ocean bottom create uncertainty for fishing families and related businesses. Longer warm seasons also extend tick activity. The public-health assessment reports that rates of Lyme disease in Knox County are approximately three times the Maine rate, and the Social Vulnerability Assessment identifies anaplasmosis and babesiosis as additional concerns.

SECTION 5

ECONOMIC RESILIENCE

The local economy depends heavily on working waterfronts, coastal infrastructure, year-round residents, and the natural qualities of the peninsula. Fishing and marine-related industries generate millions of dollars and support restaurants, transportation, tourism, markets, trades, and other small businesses.

Economic Base

Source: SGST Economic Vulnerability Assessment summary, May 2026. Business categories are presented as reported in the source package.

Key Economic Risks

The assessment reports a 27 percent child-poverty rate in St. George, owner occupancy of 90.4 percent in South Thomaston, and health-care costs 11 percent above the national average. These figures point to different types of vulnerability: household financial stress, limited housing turnover or rental supply, and operating costs that affect families and employers.

Economic Strengths

• Strong community spirit, local leadership, and volunteer capacity.
• Investments in schools, infrastructure, and education.
• A working-waterfront heritage with nationally important fishing activity.
• Natural resources that support fisheries, tourism, recreation, and community identity.
• Local businesses and institutions that connect year-round and seasonal residents.

SECTION 6

MUNICIPALLY OWNED INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES

Roads, bridges, culverts, municipal buildings, and waterfront facilities are essential to daily travel, emergency response, commerce, and access to homes. The infrastructure assessment identifies coastal and low-lying assets that warrant further study, maintenance, redesign, elevation, rerouting, or other protective measures.

Roads Identified for Further Evaluation

Bridges and Culverts Identified for Further Evaluation

Source: SGST Infrastructure and Environmental Vulnerability Assessment summary, May 2026. Inclusion indicates potential vulnerability, not an adopted project priority.

Other Assets

The assessment also identifies municipal buildings, working-waterfront facilities, recreation areas, historic and cultural sites, and coastal or low-lying parcels as points of interest. Planning should consider both the direct cost of damage and the service consequences of losing access to these places.

SECTION 7

COMMUNITY CAPACITY AND SOCIAL RESILIENCE

Social resilience describes the ability of residents and community institutions to prepare for, withstand, and recover from disruption. St. George and South Thomaston compare favorably with Maine on several income and health measures, but age, housing costs, workforce shortages, isolation, and household financial tradeoffs create important vulnerabilities.

Priority Populations

• Older adults, particularly people living alone or with limited mobility.
• People with chronic health conditions or dependence on medical equipment.
• Lower-income and fixed-income households.
• Fishing and lobster families exposed to waterfront and market disruption.
• Children and teens, including households experiencing housing insecurity.
• Residents without reliable transportation or with limited access to information and services.

Children and Families

The Social Vulnerability Assessment reports that 15 percent of the population is under age 20, including 5 percent under age 10. Nineteen percent of households include at least one child under age 18. Children can be more sensitive to extreme heat, poor air quality, wildfire smoke, browntail moth exposure, and tick-borne disease. Housing security and family economic stability influence children's ability to recover from disruption.

Health and Access Indicators

Source: Social Vulnerability Assessment; ACS; CDC PLACES; Maine CDC. Geographic levels vary by indicator.

Housing Energy and Transportation

Housing affordability is a resilience factor even when it is not caused by climate change. Employers report difficulty filling positions in health care, emergency services, construction, schools, and food service. Workers who live farther from jobs may face greater difficulty reaching work during storms. Older housing, deferred maintenance, energy costs, and limited cooling can increase health and recovery risks.

Transportation depends heavily on private vehicles. Ride sharing, volunteer transportation, home health, meal delivery, and community hubs help residents who do not drive or avoid driving at night. Road closures can interrupt medical visits, deliveries, emergency response, and access to work.

Community Assets

• District nursing, home-health services, community paramedicine, and local health providers.
• Schools, libraries, town offices, churches, granges, and community centers.
• The Gilford-Butler Center, St. George Community Development Corporation, AIO Food and Energy Assistance, Homeworthy, Meals on Wheels, and other nonprofit services.
• Volunteer fire and EMS services, informal phone trees, neighbor-to-neighbor support, and ride networks.
• Fishing co-ops, the St. George Business Alliance, and working-waterfront networks.

SECTION 8

PUBLIC HEALTH

The Public Health Vulnerability Assessment identifies four principal areas of concern: extreme temperatures, tick-borne illness, drinking-water and drought risk, and power outages. Older adults, outdoor workers, lower-income households, people with chronic conditions, and residents relying on private wells face the greatest exposure.

Extreme Temperatures

Heat can worsen cardiovascular and respiratory disease and increase the risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, falls, and medication-related complications. Cold remains dangerous during outages or fuel shortages. Cooling and warming locations, outreach, transportation, heat pumps, weatherization, and emergency planning can reduce risk.

Tick Borne Disease

Longer warm seasons increase tick activity and exposure. The source package states that Knox County Lyme disease rates are approximately three times the Maine rate. Outdoor workers, children, older adults, pet owners, and people spending time in wooded or brushy areas may face increased exposure. Public education, prevention, early recognition, and access to testing and care are important components of resilience.

Drinking Water and Drought

Many households depend on private wells. Drought can reduce well yield, while sea-level rise and coastal flooding can increase saltwater intrusion. Floodwater and runoff may introduce contaminants. Well testing, water conservation, source protection, and clear public information can help households prepare and respond.

Power Outages

Longer or more frequent outages can affect heating, cooling, refrigerated food and medicine, medical equipment, communications, and private-well pumps. Emergency planning should identify residents with electricity-dependent medical needs and ensure that shelters, hubs, communication systems, and backup power serve the most vulnerable populations.

Climate and Health Indicators

Source: SGST Public Health Vulnerability Assessment summary, May 2026.

SECTION 9

LAND USE AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Natural lands are both exposed assets and part of the resilience system. Wetlands can store floodwater and reduce storm impacts. Forests and undeveloped lands store carbon, protect water quality, support wildlife, and contribute to the character and economy of the peninsula.

Natural Carbon Storage

The greenhouse-gas inventory estimates that forests and natural lands absorb 39,506 MT CO2e annually, slightly more than the inventory's estimate of community-wide emissions. This does not eliminate the need to reduce fossil-fuel use. Carbon estimates and emissions inventories use different assumptions and boundaries, and stored carbon can be lost through development, disturbance, or land-cover change.

Planning Considerations

• Protect wetlands and natural drainage areas that reduce flood impacts.
• Consider future flood and sea-level conditions in land-use decisions.
• Protect water quality and private-well recharge areas.
• Maintain forests and undeveloped lands for carbon storage, habitat, recreation, and coastal resilience.
• Coordinate natural-resource protection with housing, infrastructure, and working-waterfront needs.

SECTION 10

WORKING WATERFRONTS

Working waterfronts are central to the local economy, identity, and food system. They depend on roads, wharves, landings, fuel, power, storage, access rights, marine conditions, labor, and businesses throughout the region. Damage to one component can affect an entire network.

Exposure

Coastal flooding, storm surge, stronger storms, and sea-level rise threaten wharves, access roads, gear, storage, and shorefront property. Fishing families also face uncertainty from warming waters, changing bottom conditions, fuel and energy costs, housing pressures, and workforce availability.

Adaptive Capacity

Contributors described fishing families as experienced adapters, but repeated damage or major ecological change can exceed the capacity of individual businesses. Protecting waterfront access, designing repairs for future conditions, improving data on marine fuel use, supporting aquaculture and diversification, and coordinating public and private investments can strengthen resilience.

Economic Significance

Source: SGST Economic Vulnerability Assessment summary, May 2026.

SECTION 11

PUBLIC SAFETY

Public safety depends on passable roads, reliable communications, available volunteers and staff, functioning power and water systems, and the ability to reach residents who may need assistance. The assessments repeatedly connect infrastructure conditions with emergency and health outcomes.

Access and Response

Routes 73 and 131 function as critical lifelines. Local roads, bridges, and culverts connect homes and waterfronts to those corridors. Washouts or closures can interrupt ambulance and fire response, home-health visits, evacuation, food and fuel delivery, and travel to medical care.

Volunteer and Staffing Capacity

Fire and EMS rely heavily on volunteers while the population is aging and working-age households face housing pressures. Recruiting and retaining volunteers, essential workers, tradespeople, and health-care providers is therefore part of public-safety planning.

Communication and Hubs

• Maintain multiple ways to communicate before, during, and after emergencies.
• Use community institutions and service providers to reach isolated residents.
• Define the roles, staffing, power, water, communications, and transportation functions of resilience hubs.
• Coordinate town departments, schools, county emergency management, health providers, utilities, nonprofits, and community volunteers.
• Plan for residents with medical equipment, limited mobility, private wells, or limited transportation.

SECTION 12

CARBON REDUCTION AND CLEAN ENERGY

The 2024 community-wide greenhouse-gas inventory provides a baseline for energy and emissions planning. It estimates 35,875 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year, more than 70 million pounds. The inventory covers buildings and stationary energy, on-road transportation, and waste; marine fuel use is outside its scope.

Community Wide Emissions

Source: 2024 SGST Community-Wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Residential Energy

Residential energy accounts for about 53 percent of total community emissions. Propane and fuel oil are the largest reported stationary-energy sources, reflecting the heating needs of a rural coastal climate and reliance on delivered fuels.

Practical Directions

• Lower energy costs through weatherization, insulation, air sealing, efficient heating, and building upgrades.
• Support cleaner transportation through electric vehicles, public charging, safer walking and bicycling connections, and efficient public fleets.
• Improve information about marine fuel use so future inventories provide a more complete picture.
• Reduce waste through composting, recycling, food-waste reduction, and diversion from landfills.
• Protect forests and undeveloped lands for carbon storage, water quality, habitat, and coastal resilience.

SECTION 13

CROSS CUTTING FINDINGS

Implications for Prioritization

Actions that address several connected risks may provide the strongest value. Examples include a road project that preserves emergency and waterfront access, a community hub with backup power and transportation coordination, housing measures that support essential workers, and weatherization programs that reduce costs, emissions, and health risks.

SECTION 14

COMMUNITY PRIORITIES AND IDEAS

The following ideas were raised in the assessment package, interviews, and public meetings. They are a point-in-time record and are not comprehensive, ranked, funded, or adopted.

Infrastructure and Natural Systems

• Raise, reroute, or redesign vulnerable roads, bridges, and culverts for future conditions.
• Build or repair waterfront facilities with higher tides and stronger storms in mind.
• Protect wetlands, forests, natural drainage, and water resources.
• Provide clearer property-level information about sea-level rise and road impacts.

People Health and Emergency Support

• Identify, fund, and staff cooling, warming, and outage hubs.
• Strengthen phone trees, outreach, and transportation for isolated residents.
• Plan for people who depend on medical equipment, refrigerated medicine, or private wells.
• Support home health, community paramedicine, telehealth, food delivery, and ride sharing.
• Help residents address driveways, trees, roofs, drainage, basement flooding, and other home-maintenance needs.

Housing Energy and Workforce

• Support affordable and stable housing for year-round families and essential workers.
• Help households apply for fuel assistance, weatherization, heat pumps, and home-repair programs.
• Continue trades education, workforce development, and volunteer recruitment.
• Consider community or municipal solar, backup power, and generator-lending programs.

Working Waterfront and Economy

• Protect working-waterfront access and coordinate resilient public and private investment.
• Support local businesses, fishing families, aquaculture, and economic diversification.
• Improve local marine-fuel and waterfront data.
• Coordinate with business groups, fishing co-ops, schools, nonprofits, and regional partners.

Outreach and Language

Contributors recommended face-to-face communication and physical materials in addition to digital outreach. Trusted partners include churches, granges, schools, fishing co-ops, service providers, community centers, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Meetings should consider working-family schedules, older residents who avoid driving after dark, food or childcare, and opportunities to meet people at existing events.

SECTION 15

FROM ASSESSMENT TO ACTION

The assessments establish a basis for choosing actions; they do not make those choices by themselves. The Community Resilience Plan should evaluate candidate actions using consistent criteria and clearly document why selected actions rise to the top.

Suggested Evaluation Questions

Near Term Work

• Verify source figures and asset lists against final consultant reports.
• Gather Community Exchange and survey input and distinguish new priorities from earlier suggestions.
• Identify responsible parties, partners, costs, and funding sources for candidate actions.
• Coordinate related projects across infrastructure, public safety, health, housing, energy, and natural resources.
• Adopt a manageable set of near-term actions while maintaining a longer-term project list.

SECTION 16

SOURCES AND DATA NOTES

Primary Sources

• SGST Vulnerability Assessment Package, May 2026, including Economic Vulnerability, Infrastructure Vulnerability, Social Vulnerability, Public Health Vulnerability, and Greenhouse Gas Inventory summaries.
• Social Vulnerability Assessment for Community Resilience, draft January 2026, prepared by Beech Hill Research LLC with the Island Institute and Midcoast Regional Council of Governments.
• 2024 Community-Wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory for St. George and South Thomaston.

Datasets Cited in the Social Assessment

• U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, primarily 2019–2023 five-year estimates.
• Maine State Economist population outlook and projections.
• CDC PLACES and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System estimates.
• Maine CDC infectious-disease and tick-borne-disease tracking.
• MaineHousing affordability research and housing-production needs study.
• Maine Governor's Office Hunger Dashboard.
• Maine Department of Marine Resources fisheries and aquaculture data.
• Efficiency Maine and U.S. Department of Energy energy-burden sources.

Important Notes

Statistics retain the geographic level and time period provided by the source when available. Town, combined-town, census-tract, and county indicators should not be treated as interchangeable. Percentages may use different populations or denominators. Estimates based on small samples may have wide margins of error.

This report distinguishes assessment findings from ideas and possible actions. Inclusion of an asset or action does not indicate town ownership, engineering feasibility, regulatory approval, funding, or adoption. Those decisions belong to the Community Resilience Plan and subsequent public processes.