Nobleboro citizens will have an opportunity to learn more about the single question on the town’s Nov. 6 ballot, at a public hearing on Wed., Oct. 24, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Voters in the November general election will also decide on a statewide ballot that includes a citizen’s initiative and five bond questions, as well as elect candidates to county, state and national office.
The question that will appear on the townwide ballot reads as follows.
“Do you want the Town to draft an ordinance to regulate consumer fireworks? (The ordinance would be subject to voter approval in March.)
If the question passes at the polls, the town would form a committee to draft an ordinance for approval next spring.
Under the state law passed in 2011, the possession and use of consumer fireworks are legal in Maine with some exceptions. Fireworks have been broken into three categories: consumer fireworks, fireworks and display or commercial grade fireworks. Consumer fireworks are only products that are tested and certified by a third-party testing laboratory as conforming with United States Consumer Product Safety Commission standards and do not include missile-type rockets, helicopters and aerial spinners, and sky rockets and bottle rockets, as defined by the State Fire Marshal.
The latter two categories of fireworks and display or commercial grade fireworks are subject to further state regulation.
Municipalities may put in place regulations more strict than those outlined in state law.
More information on consumer fireworks in Maine can be found at the website at www.maine.gov/dps/fmo/fireworks/.
For more information about the ballot for the Tues., Nov. 6 general election, call the Nobleboro Town Office at 563-8816.
