NEW SCOTLAND — An 11th-hour grant approval from the federal government has kept New Scotland from having to shell out close to half-a-million dollars for back-up power in a half-dozen town-owned facilities. 

The problem faced by the town was one of both tight and blown deadlines.

As part of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help procure and install six industrial-grade backup generators, the town received a grant for approximately $491,000, which required a 10-percent local match. 

The town issued its request for proposals in October, with bids due by the start of November. The contract was awarded a week after bids were submitted. But for New Scotland to receive — or not lose, depending on point of view — the money, it was legally required to complete the project by Feb. 1.

But the town and its prospective contractors were faced with a problem far beyond their control: a 24-week lead time for delivery due to issues with the global supply-chain.

As January drew to a close, the town still hadn’t had any word from FEMA, which Supervisor Doug LaGrange said in November wasn’t in a hurry to issue a decision because it was “packaging everybody together,” to issue a blanket decision on all grant applications. 

During the town board’s Feb. 11 meeting, LaGrange said that, on Friday, Jan. 30, at 5:04 p.m., 30 hours before New Scotland would have been on the hook for  another $491,000, LaGrange said he received an email from FEMA granting the stay.

The sites slated to receive back-up power include: 

—  The town highway department’s garage on New Scotland Road;

— The Clarksville Water District booster station on Delaware Turnpike;

 — The Clarksville Well Field on Winnie Lane in Feura Bush;

— The Feura Bush Water District booster station at Orchard Street and Western Avenue; and 

— The Wyman Osterhout Community Center on New Scotland Road.