NILES - The Niles Town Board has nixed a proposed law prohibiting the use of smokeless tobacco products in town buildings and town vehicles.
While state law regulates smoking in public places, it does not address the issue of other forms of tobacco use.
The ordinance would have imposed a maximum fine of $250 and 15 days in Cayuga County Jail for using smokeless tobacco products in town buildings, on municipal grounds or in town vehicles.
The board voted 3-2 against the proposal at its meeting Thursday night, mainly because of enforcement issues and possible infringement on individual rights. Bernard Juli and Alberta Winters voted for the law, while town Supervisor Rick Slagle, Glenn Porter and Clarence Edmonds voted against it.
Board members decided to hold a work session before the next regular town board meeting to discuss options other than creating an ordinance prohibiting such use.
“We have a problem with one of our employees who chews (tobacco) and spits it outside of the truck,” Winters said. “The superintendent down there is in charge. It should not be out of control.”
But the board was advised to be careful about how it handles the situation.
“Present law doesn't prohibit smokeless tobacco, and you can't prevent him from doing something that's his lawful right,” town attorney Andrew Fusco said.
Fusco suggested other options, such as amending the employee handbook, which would require consulting with the union. The town could include limiting tobacco use as part of the rules of the workplace, which would require union support.
“You can't ask the highway superintendent to control something that is the lawful right of people to do,” he said.
In other news:
The board announced that the garbage disposal bin placed last month between a pole and a guideline where Plunkie Point and Carpenter's Point converge will be relocated to the town hall after Tuesday, July 7.
The dumping bin, a solution to Casella Waste Service's refusal to collect from residents on the two roads, created even more controversy as people came and dumped garbage next to it, left the lid open, and in general abused its placement.
After neighbor Jocelyn Smith and Tom Walsh said they wanted the container removed, and Maureen Walsh, a resident who is also a lawyer, threatened legal action, the board agreed to ask residents to bring their trash to the town hall where it could be monitored before being removed by the trash hauler.
The town is anxious to advertise and receive bids for garbage hauling for 2010 prior to working on the budget and will look into other options for placement of containers and garbage collection.
It will require a referendum to alter the present collection system.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
The ordinance would have imposed a maximum fine of $250 and 15 days in Cayuga County Jail for using smokeless tobacco products in town buildings, on municipal grounds or in town vehicles.
The board voted 3-2 against the proposal at its meeting Thursday night, mainly because of enforcement issues and possible infringement on individual rights. Bernard Juli and Alberta Winters voted for the law, while town Supervisor Rick Slagle, Glenn Porter and Clarence Edmonds voted against it.
Board members decided to hold a work session before the next regular town board meeting to discuss options other than creating an ordinance prohibiting such use.
“We have a problem with one of our employees who chews (tobacco) and spits it outside of the truck,” Winters said. “The superintendent down there is in charge. It should not be out of control.”
But the board was advised to be careful about how it handles the situation.
“Present law doesn't prohibit smokeless tobacco, and you can't prevent him from doing something that's his lawful right,” town attorney Andrew Fusco said.
Fusco suggested other options, such as amending the employee handbook, which would require consulting with the union. The town could include limiting tobacco use as part of the rules of the workplace, which would require union support.
“You can't ask the highway superintendent to control something that is the lawful right of people to do,” he said.
In other news:
The board announced that the garbage disposal bin placed last month between a pole and a guideline where Plunkie Point and Carpenter's Point converge will be relocated to the town hall after Tuesday, July 7.
The dumping bin, a solution to Casella Waste Service's refusal to collect from residents on the two roads, created even more controversy as people came and dumped garbage next to it, left the lid open, and in general abused its placement.
After neighbor Jocelyn Smith and Tom Walsh said they wanted the container removed, and Maureen Walsh, a resident who is also a lawyer, threatened legal action, the board agreed to ask residents to bring their trash to the town hall where it could be monitored before being removed by the trash hauler.
The town is anxious to advertise and receive bids for garbage hauling for 2010 prior to working on the budget and will look into other options for placement of containers and garbage collection.
It will require a referendum to alter the present collection system.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
