LEWISTON — Two empty seats at the City Council’s meeting table Tuesday night doomed efforts to ban fireworks within city limits.

Ward 2 Councilor Renee Bernier and Ward 5 Councilor Tina O’Connell — both supporters of the citywide fireworks ban the council approved 5-2 on first reading earlier this month — missed Tuesday night’s meeting and the second reading of the fireworks ban.

City rules require at least four votes to approve an ordinance on first or second reading. Without Bernier and O’Connell’s votes, the three remaining supporters of the ban didn’t bother to bring the matter up for a vote. It died without a motion to take the matter off the table.

It’s effectively dead, said City Administrator Ed Barrett, unless councilors vote to suspend their rules and reconsider the ban at their next meeting on Dec. 6.

“If nothing happens, if no one does it, it’s done until the next council takes over,” Barrett said.

The current council’s final meeting is scheduled for Dec. 20. The new council, elected last week, takes office in January. A new state law, also scheduled to take effect in January, legalizes the sale and possession of fireworks. It lets cities and towns adopt their own limitations, however. Several cities, including Bangor and Portland, have already done that.

 Auburn’s City Council is expected to vote on a similar ban at its meeting next week.

Lewiston councilors considered a less drastic ban at their Nov. 1 meeting, but ultimately turned it down. It would have allowed fireworks in the rural parts of the city but not downtown. Fireworks would have been allowed only on three days: Dec. 31, Jan. 1 and July 4. Professional fireworks displays would have been exempt.

Councilors approved the full ban on first reading Nov. 1, with Councilors Larry Poulin and John Butler dissenting. Butler argued the complete ban would be too difficult for police to enforce, and Poulin said he favored allowing fireworks.

When they realized they were short of votes Tuesday night, supporters of the ban worked to preserve it and attempted to delay a vote until next month. 

A vote to table discussion until Dec. 6 picked up three votes in support and two against — with Poulin and Councilor Mark Cayer voting to keep the matter on Tuesday’s agenda. That didn’t meet the four-vote threshold, and failed.

Cayer said he misunderstood the tabling discussion and voted to reconsider. His motion failed 3-2 because it required four votes to pass. Both Poulin and Butler voted not to reconsider the decision to table.

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