City officials will wait another two weeks before voting on new restrictions to Seymour’s existing smoking ordinance.
Due to the absence of Councilmen John Reinhart and Dave Earley from Monday night’s city council meeting, the issue was tabled until the Dec. 11 meeting.
As chair of the governmental affairs committee, Earley was to introduce a proposed ordinance amending the smoking law to ban smoking from all outdoor public gatherings of 50 or more people and to include all electronic smoking devices in the restrictions.
Earley could not be at the meeting due to a death in his family.
Originally, the grassroots organization Smoke Free Seymour, led by retired county health officer Dr. Kenneth Bobb and retired Councilman Mike Jordan, requested the ordinance be changed to also ban smoking from bars and private membership clubs and to extend the distance where people can smoke near a public entrance from 10 to 20 feet.
Both Bobb and Jordan attended Monday’s meeting and said they supported the council’s decision to hold off on a vote.
“Councilman (Matt) Nicholson was absolutely correct in tabling the ordinance out of respect for Councilman Earley and the loss of his mother,” Jordan said. “They have put a lot of hard work and effort in coming up with an ordinance that benefits everyone.”
Becky Weickers of Seymour said she likes the idea of no smoking at outdoor public events, but she doesn’t think people will abide by the law if it goes into effect.
“Who is going to enforce the outside events? Who will pay for the officers if hired?” she asked. “We all know asking people to not smoke in a crowd or around children will never work.”
Debbie Meyers of Seymour said the restriction will make it safer for her and others to attend outdoor events such as the Oktoberfest.
“I wear oxygen on a backpack. It was scary walking through crowds at the Oktoberfest with cigarettes everywhere,” she said. “I was always moving away from smoke.”
Shawna Boas of Seymour said she believes adding restrictions to keep people from smoking at public outdoor events is a good idea.
“After all the smoke I walked through at the downtown Christmas event (Monday night), I am glad they want to ban it,” she said.
Seymour resident Beth Pifer agreed.
“The smoke is the reason we left early,” she said.
Jordan said although supporters of Smoke Free Seymour would like to see all of their proposals included in the ordinance, they are making headway.
“Naturally, we’re a little disappointed about the bars and clubs, but we totally understand both their and the council’s point of view. We feel like it is a step in the right direction,” Jordan said. “One thing this campaign to amend the ordinance has accomplished is to once again raise the awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke.”
Smoke Free Seymour organized two town hall meetings in October to discuss the issue and invited the public to share their opinions and ask questions.
It was those meetings that helped Jordan and others agree that extending the distance where people could smoke near a public entrance from 10 feet to 20 feet would cause too much of a hardship in many cases. The city’s current 10-foot restriction is more than the state’s, which is set at 8 feet.
“The town hall meetings were very beneficial, and we all learned a lot from the input of those who attended,” Jordan said. “The last thing anyone wants is to put an ordinance on the books that can’t be enforced.
“We really appreciate the mayor’s office and city council working with us to find some common ground,” he added. “Everybody wins something when this passes.”