KINGFIELD — At the Oct. 21 Kingfield Select Board meeting, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. presented traffic data for Riverside Street. Afterward, Town Manager Leanna Targett noted that the radar may have also captured traffic from nearby Route 16, potentially skewing the results.

Nichols presented data from a radar speed sign set up between Oct. 10 and 16. “I was surprised to see how many cars use that road out there,” Nichols said. “There were 6,640 vehicles recorded in just one week. Of those, 11 vehicles were in the high-risk category, traveling 15 mph or more over the speed limit. We had 66 vehicles in the medium-risk category, 10 to 15 mph over and 2,370 in the low-risk category, less than 10 mph over.”

Targett later clarified that the radar might have captured traffic from both Riverside Street and Route 16. “Keep in mind that we pointed out to Chief Nichols that his data on Riverside Street [the 6,640 cars] was inaccurate due to their radar picking up all the traffic on Route 16 and not just Riverside Street,” she said.

Nichols acknowledged the challenges of enforcing speed limits across the county. “We are doing what we can as far as putting ourselves out there,” he said. “Just so everybody knows, we have 12 people assigned to patrol, but that usually means during the day, we have three people covering the entire county, and we have four at night. As you can tell, we are not a small county. We respond when we get calls, and if anybody thinks we’re not being responsive enough, here I am. I’m not afraid to address it.”

Nichols emphasized that speeding is a county-wide issue. “Riverside Street is no different than Main Street in Strong, Route 4 in Strong, or a dozen other problem areas,” he said. He said they try to do targeted patrols. “We don’t stay in one town for days,” he noted. “We jump around to catch people, so they won’t know where we’ll be. That seems to be working pretty well for us at this point.”

In other business, the board scheduled a work session for Nov. 6 at 5:30 p.m. to review a sewer rate analysis from the Maine Rural Water Association.

The discussion turned to complaints about fireworks being set off from a residence on West Kingfield Road. Explosions have been occurring several days a week, and debris from the fireworks has landed on neighboring properties, raising concerns about fire hazards.

Nichols expressed frustration with the state’s fireworks laws. “I hate that law,” he said. “I wish they never changed it the way they did. There are folks out there that just…you know…it’s one thing to celebrate something, but it’s another thing to be an annoyance. But it’s not against the law up until 10 p.m., and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Nichols explained that towns could create their own ordinances to regulate fireworks. “Municipalities can set their own rules if they want to lower the cutoff time to 9 p.m. or another time,” he said. “But once you do that, how are you going to enforce it? You’d need a penalty in place, and we’d have to train deputies to prosecute these cases. It’s a complicated process.”

Residents voiced concerns about the fire hazards posed by fireworks debris falling into dry leaves and pine needles. Nichols noted that current state statutes do not address fire risks associated with fireworks. “The only way to change the law would be to reach out to state representatives,” he said. “Intent has to be proven and that’s almost impossible.”

In closing, Nichols acknowledged that enforcement is limited by resources, but reassured the board and residents that his department responds when called. “We’ve conducted 283 traffic stops in Kingfield alone since Jan. 1, and we will continue to monitor Main Street, especially as commuter traffic picks up next month,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can with the resources we have.”

The next Select Board meeting will be held Nov. 18.