Proposed Smoking Ban, Madison County

The Madison County Board of Supervisors amended its proposed smoking ban this morning to exclude county parks and forest land. A public hearing on the proposed law — which will apply to cigarettes, cigars and pipes as well as chewing tobacco — will be held at 10:45 .am. Sept. 11 in the Board of Supervisors chambers in Wampsville. The county was considering banning the use of tobacco on property owned and leased by the county, including the entire government campus in Wampsville, where smoking is currently prohibited within 20 feet of county buildings, and portions of county parks and forest land. The Madison County Board of Health would enforce the law and violators would be subject to a fine of up to $1,000. “This legislation provides for a more productive, healthy workforce,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman John Becker. “I think it will be positive for our campus and for our employees.” This morning, supervisors amended the proposed law to allow smoking in county parks and forest land, after Madison County Planning Director Scott Ingmire said no complaints about smoking had ever been lodged at the county’s two public parks – which have picnic pavilions and public restrooms but no playground facilities. The meeting also included a letter of opposition from Wampsville Mayor Sandra Eaton. “This ban will create a nuisance by county employees who are forced onto public walkways to smoke and then discard cigarette butts on our sidewalks, pathways and streets,” Eaton wrote in a letter dated Monday. “With budget constraints it is impossible for our community to address a cleanup created by your legislation.” Eaton also called the proposed local law “a form of government intrusion into the rights of others and their quality of life.” ‘It is a slippery slope that legislators take when they regulate individual’s rights and freedoms,” Eaton wrote. “The public good created by this ban is smoke and mirrors and nothing more.” Brookfield Supervisor John Salka, who heads the county’s public health committee, disagreed with Eaton’s assessment. “Smoking is not a right,” Salka said. “We are trying to improve health by decreasing or eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke. Our intentions are good here.