PARIS — Selectmen planned to set two public hearings in the future on the topics of hunting in the Cornwall Preserve and whether the town should pursue a fireworks ordinance.

The dates for the hearings haven’t been set, and selectmen didn’t decide on whether to hold them before regular board meetings or to hold them independently.

Planning Board member Franca Ainsworth said hikers have complained about hunters insulting and threatening them during hunting season. She said residents visiting the preserve “feel threatened and feel very unsafe.”

Ainsworth said she brought the issue to the board years ago but between arguments at the time and the firing of former Town Manager Sharon Jackson, “it always got shoved to the back.

“It seems to me ready made for a public hearing,” board Chairman Ted Kurtz said. Other board members agreed.

Selectmen decided to get opinions from the public before deciding on whether to pass a fireworks ordinance. A law passed in June legalizes the sale and use of fireworks in Maine, but municipalities can pass their own rules blocking or restricting their use.

The state will require sellers to have permits. The town could also require permits.

Fire Chief Brad Frost said he didn’t have a problem with the sales or use of fireworks in town. However, he said, fireworks don’t require permits as fires do. On days classified by the Maine Forest Service as having a very high risk of forest fires, the Fire Department can’t issue fire permits. There’s nothing to prevent use of fireworks on those days, Frost said.

The law allowing fireworks doesn’t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2012, so the town has the rest of the year to create a policy.

Kurtz said the board will decide on public hearing dates for both issues at a later time.

treaves@sunjournal.com

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