'Constant boom, boom, night after night'

Wed, 08/14/2013 - 2:30pm

Lynda Clancy

Gus Johnson, of Lincolnville, addresses Lincolnville selectmen Aug. 12, raising concern about the noise produced from frequent displays of fireworks. Seated, from left, are selectmen Rosey Gerry and Jason Trundy. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

(Photo by Lynda Clancy)

Lincolnville resident Adam Chalmers addresses the Lincolnville selectmen, saying fireworks need no further municipal regulation. Seated is Donnie Heald IV. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

(Photo by Lynda Clancy)

Lincolnville resident Adam Chalmers addresses the Lincolnville selectmen, saying fireworks need no further municipal regulation. Seated is Donnie Heald IV. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

LINCOLNVILLE — Nightly fireworks exploding over Norton Pond and other spots around town got citizens fired up at the town's Aug. 12 selectmen’s meeting, with tension building among citizens themselves who stood at the podium commenting on the noise, and its effects on pets, wildlife and their own sleep. The result was a split vote over asking a committee to explore a fireworks ordinance, and an admonition from Chairman Ladleah Dunn about being respectful in a participatory democracy.

In Lincolnville, the debate over fireworks use has been building through the summer, with fiery opinions flying back and forth on Lincolnville’s local Internet bulletin board. Most recently, there have been comments there referencing harassment and threatening remarks made in the wake of Monday’s meeting.

At issue is the suggestion by a few citizens that the town craft a municipal fireworks ordinance. Until last year, consumer fireworks in Maine were banned under laws dating back to 1949. State law now allows fireworks in towns that are not otherwise prohibiting them (see below for towns and cities that do have such ordinances), providing the users are 21 and older, and that the fireworks are not exploded in public places. The law also states that fireworks use is limited from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., except on Independence Day and New Year’s Eve, when they are allowed until 12:30 a.m.

Many of the complaints in Lincolnville have been fielded from residents around area ponds — Norton, Coleman and Pitcher — where sound carries more easily across open waters.

At the Monday night selectmen’s meeting, held in a classroom at the Lincolnville Central School, Gus Johnson said he was not opposed to fireworks, but “how often and how late in the evening would be worth discussing.”

He said fireworks going off every night is obnoxious, and causes anxiousness in dogs.

“It freaks them out,” he said. “I feel that fireworks initially were to signify a celebration. If they are going off every night there is the potential to celebrate every night, but I feel they should be fired for more significant reasons.”

He likened fireworks to jet skis, which have been banned from local lakes. Like jet skis, fireworks are loud, annoying and disruptive to loons, he said.

“If we are not going to have jet skis, it seems contradictory to have fireworks that do the same thing,” said Johnson. “I don’t think absolutism is the answer to this. It is hard to retract law. We have to work with it and be reasonable as far as when these things are happening and when they are allowed.”

Lincolnville resident Adam Chalmers followed Johnson to the podium and told the selectmen that he lived on Megunticook Lake.

“I’m all for the fireworks,” he said. “They don’t bother the loons. They aren’t scared by boats. Fireworks is the least of their worries.”

But other citizens countered Chalmers, saying the noise was excessive.

“My dogs go nuts, and horses do, too,” said resident Karen Good.

“I find this quite shocking,” said Landis Gable, who lives on Coleman Pond. “It’s not occasional fireworks. It’s every night for a couple hours. It’s a constant booming. Others are surprised and shocked, too, that we are tolerating this constant boom, boom, night after night.”

Richard Benner, who lives on Norton Pond, said fireworks there have been running frequently for half an hour or more at night. The loons start crying after the first explosions and then stop, he said.

“It definitely affects the loons in some ways,” he said. “I have two dogs that go incredibly berserk. It takes me half an hour to settle the dogs back down.”

He said his neighbors have a 3-year-old child who goes to bed and then is awakened by the noise, and can’t get back to sleep.

“It’s been going on every night since the Fourth of July,” Benner said. “This nightly thing is going beyond what is reasonable.”

Lincolnville resident Donny Heald IV said he had formerly worked with a pyrotechnics company that produced fireworks shows. He said commercial fireworks are like thunder, and advised it would be good to take heed of what happens to others during fireworks displays. He also said there is a “fine line between the peoples’ right to exercise lawful activity and what is nuisance to others.”

Another resident said he generally is trying to fall asleep when the fireworks go off, and they are sometimes accompanied by blaring rock and roll music. He also said fireworks contain pollution, with each color produced by a different poison that does not quickly dissipate.

Resident Cathy Hardy asked if the majority of complaints originate near Norton Pond, or all over town. She said she supports the use of fireworks, but also supports finding acceptable times to allow them, “not late at night.”

Scott Underhill, of Lincolnville, said noise does not affect loons as much as the wake produced by jet skis.

“It’s not best for loons, but they deal with gunshots, motor boats and people yelling,” he said.

Selectman Julia Libby said the use of fireworks is seasonal.

“I don’t hear it all year long,” she said.

Selectman Jason Trundy said Maine’s statute change over fireworks was the result of legislative action, not a peoples’ vote.

“There was no statewide vote,” he said. “It was a cop-out by the state, a passing of the buck to municipalities to let them deal with it.”

He said, “The best thing to do is put it to voters of town. It’s what we do with every other hot-button topic in town.”

He suggested sending the issue to a committee, “to ferret out pros and cons, and boil down what is reasonable.”

He said the larger issue will be enforcement of any fireworks ordinance, and subsequent financial tags associated with enforcement and court.

“Laws are created for lack of common sense,” said Trundy. “Sometimes people act out of lack of decency and common sense and that’s why we write laws.”

Good suggested there be education of the public, as happened with banning jet skis.

“There will be a percentage of voluntary compliance and a portion of noncompliance,” said Trundy.

Peter Rollins, of Lincolnville, suggested the concern over fireworks should fall under a noise ordinance purview. Lincolnville does not have a noise ordinance.

“People don’t have the option of opting out of noise,” said Johnson. “Nobody has a choice.”

Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Ladleah Dunn said many interesting points had been raised during the discussion, with the overarching theme of noise.

“ I don’t think it is something to make decision on now,” she said. it will take, she said, a “wide and varied approach to finding a compromise.”

Voting 3 to 2, with Libby and Rosey Gerry opposing, the selectmen are sending the matter off to a committee to explore possible ordinance language governing use of fireworks. The issue will go back to the selectmen at their next meeting for further discussion about exactly what committee would oversee such a task.

Subsequent to the meeting, Town Administrator David Kinney fielded three or four communications from citizens offering to serve on an ad hoc committee, should one be created.

After the vote, Dunn told those at the meeting that the selectmen appreciated the presence of citizens there and acknowledged the right of all to participate in democracy. But, she said, that right comes with a responsibility to be respectful.

“There is no need to be nasty,” she said.

That statement was in reference to ongoing muttering and derogatory remarks under way in the two rows of chairs occupied by citizens. The tension erupted in a hostile verbal exchange between Johnson and Chalmers, while Johnson was at the podium.

Existing municipal ordinances

Other municipalities have enacted their own ordinances governing fireworks, with varying degrees of legislation. They are as follows, courtesy of the Office of the Maine State Fire Marshal.

In Maine, except sparklers and caps, consumer fireworks were banned from 1949 to 2011. A state law lifting this ban went into effect on January 1, 2012. It limits fireworks use to cities and towns where they’re approved and requires users and buyers to be 21 or older. Sky, bottle, and missile-type rockets, helicopters, and aerial spinners are illegal. State and federal laws also ban M80s, cherry and aerial bombs, large, reloaded shells, firecrackers containing more than 50mg of powder, and mail order kits for making fireworks.

Fireworks can’t be used in public places and depending on local laws, can be used only on the buyer’s own property or on private property with the property owner’s permission.

Use is limited from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., except on Independence Day and December 31, when fireworks are allowed until 12:30 a.m. the next day. These extended hours also apply the weekend before and after those dates. (Where there are no local regulations, state law applies.)