HOULTON, Maine — Town officials in Houlton are considering an ordinance to prohibit smoking in Riverfront Park due to an escalating issue with litter in the newest such area in the community.
Town councilors briefly discussed the issue during a meeting on July 18, 2016 after the topic was brought up by Town Manager Butch Asselin.
Asselin said July 26 that there is a sign in Riverfront Park that outlines rules for the area, including refraining from skateboarding in the area, playing loud music and littering. It also notes that the area is a “smoke-free zone.”
“The problem is there really is no teeth behind that as far as making sure people do not smoke there because there is no ordinance behind it,” he explained. “There has to be an ordinance on the books.”
During the meeting, Asselin told councilors that cigarette butts were being left on the ground and near the picnic tables, and that problem seemed to be caused by sizable groups of teenagers and young adults. Councilors were supportive of the idea of an ordinance during the meeting.
Ever since town officials dedicated the pedestrian footbridge 11 years ago, volunteers have worked tirelessly to upgrade the plot of land that surrounds it, which eventually was named Riverfront Park. The footbridge stretches from the North Street Bridge across the Meduxnekeag River. The Riverfront Committee, which was formed a decade ago to create the park, raised funds for the construction of the bridge and creation of the park and helps pay for its maintenance. Committee members also secured grants and donations to create lights, picnic tables and other amenities, a groomed fitness trail and storyboards lining the bridge and walking path depicting the history of the town and other facts about the community. Public bathrooms also will be built in the near future.
In the past two years, however, the park has become a growing attraction for vandals, who have carved obscenities into the wooden benches, broken streetlights, sprayed graffiti on the storyboards and strewn trash around.
Councilor Wade Hanson, who once served as the town’s code enforcement officer, said July 26 that while he did not want to publicly express his opinion on the matter at this point, he felt that the most pressing goal was to get the littering to stop.
“A lot of volunteers and other people have put a great deal of their time and effort into that park, and we don’t want to see it full of litter like cigarette butts,” he said.
Hanson said that any proposed ordinance would first go through the ordinance review committee, then on to Asselin for his review, then to the town attorney before going back to the council for consideration. If any changes are made, it goes back to the review committee.
