CHESTERVILLE — Voters will consider adopting a fireworks ordinance at the annual town meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, March 24, at the Town Office.

An election for two selectmen will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. Monday, also at the Town Office. 

Selectman Guy Iverson is running unopposed for another three-year term. Selectman Maitland Lord is not seeking re-election, Town Clerk Heather Wheeler said.

Scott Gray and Daniel Tibbetts Sr. are seeking a one-year term on the board, she said.

Tibbetts, 47, said he thinks it’s a responsibility of a citizen to go in and find out how things in his town work. He believes the one-year position will give him time to learn, and if he can help the town, he’ll consider running for a longer term, he said.

“I have no objective for becoming a selectman; I’m making no promises,” he said. “Every voice is an important voice. I just want to help the citizens as one of them.”

Tibbetts grew up in Chesterville and has lived there for most of his life. He is a former town employee, he said.

Gray, 47, has lived in Chesterville his entire life. He has attended several selectmen meetings and served on a building committee. He’s interested in doing something that will help the town.

He especially wants to be part of a working board who will listen to people, discuss issues and make decisions, he said. He wants to encourage people to come to meetings and have their say, he said.

The town meeting supper begins at 5 p.m. Selectman Jo Hanson said.

At the meeting last year, townspeople indicated they wanted a fireworks ordinance, Hanson said.  There was concern about farm animals and the potential for them to be injured from fireworks, she said.

The Planning Board and Code Enforcement Officer Brenda Medcoff researched fireworks ordinances from other towns of similar size and characteristics to Chesterville, Medcoff wrote in the Annual Town Report.

The proposed ordinance includes specific distances for fireworks ignition, including not within 1,000 feet of livestock or a livestock building, unless they receive written permission from the owner, Hanson said.  

The ordinance also limits setting off fireworks less than 100 feet from a vehicle or combustible structure and not within 50 feet of utility lines or wooded areas, she said.

The town will also consider amending a water-quality ordinance adopted last November. Some wording regarding excavation and boundaries of existing pits will be clarified and made easier to understand, she said.

Copies of the proposed fireworks ordinance and changes for the water-quality ordinance are available at the Town Office.

Fire Chief Edward Hastings IV has prepared a short presentation about the department’s request to replace and equip a squad truck, Hanson said.

Selectmen and the Budget Committee recommend authorizing the Fire Department and selectmen to use funds from the firetruck reserve account and to borrow no more than $125,000 for the purchase.

abryant@sunjournal.com