SKANEATELES - Smokers have to keep their cigarette butts away from public buildings in Skaneateles.
And village employees caught breaking the rule will face an official reprimand.
The Skaneateles Village Board passed a new policy Monday banning smoking in and next to village buildings or vehicles. The policy aligns village protocol with a current state law that makes smoking in all public buildings and vehicles illegal.
However, the village ban forces smokers to stand more than five feet away from any door on public buildings, which is not a state law and it mandates that smokers avoid anyone leaving those buildings.
The new policy also defines possible penalties for village employees who do not follow the rules: a verbal warning for the first offense, a written reprimand for the second and possible suspension after that.
Village Attorney Mike Byrne said after the meeting that the new policy allows the village to handle issues or complaints before the state Health Department is asked to intervene.
“The fact is it's a law, ... but we want to be able to deal with it internally,” he said.
Byrne said there was a complaint in July about smoking in a public building. However, he also said it is not a big problem in general.
The village has the authority to ban smoking on all village properties, Byrne said. But the newly approved rules also recognize that there are many good, hard-working employees who are also smokers.
“We're not trying to turn their lives upside down,” he said.
Department heads and the code enforcement officer will be in charge of enforcing the policy. Written complaints can also be filed with code enforcement or the village office.
The village board considered a few years ago banning smoking in all public parks.
However, enforcement issues kept that from coming to fruition.
Trustee Sue Jones said Monday that enforcement is always a major issue when taking action like that. But she also said smoking poses a real quality-of-life issue in the village.
“Personally, for the long term, I think it's an area I would look toward,” Jones said.
In other news:
• Some local residents were not too thrilled about the noise generated last weekend by a popular annual race. Police Chief Lloyd Perkins said the village received a couple noise complaints about the Skaneateles Labor Day Race Weekend.
Perkins said the complaints focused mainly on announcements made through a sound system as early as 5:30 a.m.
Organizers were also concerned about the complaints and are working with local officials to prevent it from happening again, he said.
The two-day event features multiple running, biking and swimming races, some starting at 8 a.m. or earlier.
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
The Skaneateles Village Board passed a new policy Monday banning smoking in and next to village buildings or vehicles. The policy aligns village protocol with a current state law that makes smoking in all public buildings and vehicles illegal.
However, the village ban forces smokers to stand more than five feet away from any door on public buildings, which is not a state law and it mandates that smokers avoid anyone leaving those buildings.
The new policy also defines possible penalties for village employees who do not follow the rules: a verbal warning for the first offense, a written reprimand for the second and possible suspension after that.
Village Attorney Mike Byrne said after the meeting that the new policy allows the village to handle issues or complaints before the state Health Department is asked to intervene.
“The fact is it's a law, ... but we want to be able to deal with it internally,” he said.
Byrne said there was a complaint in July about smoking in a public building. However, he also said it is not a big problem in general.
The village has the authority to ban smoking on all village properties, Byrne said. But the newly approved rules also recognize that there are many good, hard-working employees who are also smokers.
“We're not trying to turn their lives upside down,” he said.
Department heads and the code enforcement officer will be in charge of enforcing the policy. Written complaints can also be filed with code enforcement or the village office.
The village board considered a few years ago banning smoking in all public parks.
However, enforcement issues kept that from coming to fruition.
Trustee Sue Jones said Monday that enforcement is always a major issue when taking action like that. But she also said smoking poses a real quality-of-life issue in the village.
“Personally, for the long term, I think it's an area I would look toward,” Jones said.
In other news:
• Some local residents were not too thrilled about the noise generated last weekend by a popular annual race. Police Chief Lloyd Perkins said the village received a couple noise complaints about the Skaneateles Labor Day Race Weekend.
Perkins said the complaints focused mainly on announcements made through a sound system as early as 5:30 a.m.
Organizers were also concerned about the complaints and are working with local officials to prevent it from happening again, he said.
The two-day event features multiple running, biking and swimming races, some starting at 8 a.m. or earlier.
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
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guitardude62 wrote on Sep 15, 2009 4:26 PM:
whybother wrote on Sep 15, 2009 2:58 PM:
wondertwin wrote on Sep 15, 2009 12:57 PM:
guitardude62 wrote on Sep 15, 2009 12:51 PM:
How often does this Labor Day Day Race go on???? Oh yeah,,,, it's on Labor Day weekend, thats the ticket. Yet another example of people living in a town with events, resources, tourism dollars, etc, a once a year event, and a healthy event at that, and they find something to complain about. Pleeeeeeaazzzz. Just like the Weedsport/concert complainers, lets set aside a township where no one lives and have all the concerts and races and get-togethers and whatever else residents find something to complain about and have them there. I don't particularly like the Town of Sennett trucks and the Vitale cement trucks going up and down my street every morning and night either, but they have their business and pay taxes or collect taxes or whatever, so we suffer a little. Oh yea those pesky fireworks going off at the ball field all summer, and what about rt 5 traffic? The Raceway in Elbridge? It seems there's a little noise going on all over the world. Of course those fine upstanding SkinnyAtlas types shouldnt have to put up with that nonsensical race event noise, they pay way too much to have to listen to that crap. Find something more worthwhile to complain or report about. "
genegirl59 wrote on Sep 15, 2009 11:15 AM:
rmg13021 wrote on Sep 15, 2009 10:16 AM:
A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline. A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year. So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons/year. They claim 700,000 vehicles involved with the clunker program, so that's 224 million gallons / year savings. That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil. 5 million barrels of oil is about ½ of one day's US consumption. 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars at $75/bbl. So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million. How good a deal was that?
They’ll probably do a better job with health care though!! "
genegirl59 wrote on Sep 15, 2009 10:03 AM:
rmg13021 wrote on Sep 15, 2009 9:49 AM:
genegirl59 wrote on Sep 15, 2009 9:28 AM:
monsoon wrote on Sep 15, 2009 8:39 AM:
spatrx wrote on Sep 15, 2009 7:19 AM:
northender wrote on Sep 15, 2009 3:40 AM: