Sec. 1. Secession and annexation of Town of Islesboro; petition. Residents of the Town of Islesboro may initiate the process of seceding from Waldo County and being annexed to Knox County by submitting to the municipal officers of the municipality a petition signed by more than 50% of the registered voters within the municipality that requests a public hearing for the purpose of discussing whether the municipality should secede from Waldo County and be annexed to Knox County. The petition must set forth a list of not more than 5 people who will serve as representatives of the secession and annexation committee. The secession and annexation committee may accept private donations to cover its costs.

The municipal officers may appoint representatives to the secession and annexation committee, and the registrar of voters may collect and validate signatures of registered voters on petitions prior to the effective date of this Act. This Act applies retroactively to appointments, circulation of petitions and validation of signatures of registered voters that occurred prior to the effective date of this Act, except that petitions may not be submitted to the county commissioners under this Act until after the effective date of this Act.

The registrar of voters of the municipality shall verify the signatures on the petitions within 30 days of the receipt of the petitions.

Sec. 2. Initial hearing. Upon receipt of petitions with the required number of verified signatures and sufficient funds to cover the cost of giving public notice of and holding a hearing, the county commissioners of Knox and Waldo counties shall call and hold a joint public hearing. The purpose of the public hearing is to allow county residents and residents of the municipality to discuss the proposed secession and annexation. The public hearing must be conducted by a moderator elected in the manner provided for in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 2524, except that no other official vote may be taken at the public hearing. The public hearing must be conducted in accordance with this section.

1. The county commissioners of Knox and Waldo counties shall publish notice of the public hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the area. One notice must be published as close as possible to the 14th day before the hearing, and a 2nd notice must be published as close as possible to the 7th day before the hearing.

2. The public hearing must include a formal presentation by