FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — The town of Fort Fairfield may consider adopting a fireworks ordinance before this summer, as well as a solution to better access to ATV trails.
At a Feb. 21 meeting, Fort Fairfield town councilors agreed to start discussions on drafting a fireworks ordinance at their next regular meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, March 21.
“I think we should be working on a policy before summer gets through,” councillor Mitch Butler said in proposing the idea for the March meeting agenda.
“I think we should be pushing hard on that to get this thing squared away before the fireworks start coming out in full force.”
Since Maine legalized consumer fireworks in 2012, more than 60 municipalities have adopted ordinances restricting their use in some way amid complaints about noise and safety risks. In 2017, Presque Isle adopted a fireworks ordinance that requires anyone using fireworks in the urban compact zone to obtain a permit from the fire department.
Ahead of the March meeting, Fort Fairfield town manager Jim Risner and town staff also will be working on finding a solution to providing better access to local all-terrain vehicle trails from town roadways.
The Fort Frontier ATV Club recently asked the town to approve a new designated ATV access route, including a proposed 1.1 mile stretch of Forest Avenue running from Main Street to the Fort Lions Club.
Currently, the town has one park and ride location to access the ATV trails. Under state law, registered ATV users cannot travel more than 300 yards on a public way to access an ATV trail unless the public way is designated for such use.
Risner said that he and police chief Shawn Newell have concerns and are reluctant to permit new access routes. Among other proposals from the club was opening up Fort Fairfield side streets as access routes to the trail, part of which runs along the Aroostook River in downtown Fort Fairfield.
“The benefits of an open access trail system on town roads do not outweigh the possible hazards,” Risner said, explaining why he was recommending the councilors deny the Fort Frontier ATV Club’s proposals.
“If the town designates open access of public roads as connectors between ATV trails, policing those stretches will become an extremely difficult task,” Risner said. “Complaints of speed and noise are not uncommon for public roads with ATV access. ATVs are an unpredictable presence on the roadways.”
The town council, though, asked Risner to continue discussions with the ATV Club and develop a compromise solution to trail access.
“I’m sure that somewhere we can come to a resolution of access that would maintain safety and further accessibility to the core of our community in town,” said councillor Robert Kilcollins.
“Access is going to happen regardless and it has been,” Kilcollins said, referring to ATV riders using roadways that are not authorized for access routes. “If there’s a safer response to the situation with guidelines that work, that’s better than not having anything at all.”
Councillor Scott Smith said he thinks “a compromise could be made.” Smith said he also thinks that most ATV riders would agree that “open access is not going to work in Fort Fairfield.”
Some other communities have adopted permissive ATV ordinances that allow ATV users to ride on municipally owned roads. In 2012, Houlton adopted an ordinance granting ATV riders permission to use many town-owned and maintained roads as access routes to trails.
“They’re having issues down in Houlton with people just going everywhere they want and I don’t think people want to see that in Fort Fairfield,” Smith said.
