The Board of Health met 10/09/2024. They had one action item on their agenda which was a proposed update to the city’s Municipal Code which would ban smoking in the blocks on which the library and the Transit Center are located. Currently, smoking is already banned on the entirety of the area outside of the Transit Center including the sidewalks, but people are able to smoke on the sidewalk on the other side of Oneida Street by the library. This proposal would ban public smoking entirely in the outside areas, including the sidewalks, on the blocks taken up by the library and the Transit Center.
The Board of Health voted unanimously to recommend the proposal for approval.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
Health Officer Charles Sepers told the board that one of the reasons for this proposal is because a lot of the library’s children’s programming will take place in new outdoor space near where smoking is currently allowed.
Board of Health Chairperson Cathy Spears asked if smoking was allowed on the sidewalk outside of the yellow ramp. Health Officer Sepers told her that it was. She expressed concern that it seemed like the area smokers congregated was close to the entrance for the ramp. She wondered if this proposed update banning smoking around the library should be expanded to clarify that people had to stay 25 feet away from the entrance to the yellow parking ramp. It turned out that the area where people tend to smoke near the yellow ramp is already further than 25 feet from the entrance, so they are already in compliance with the existing code.
The Board of Health proceeded to vote unanimously to approve the recommended ban of smoking around the blocks of the library and the Transit Center.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1229833&GUID=A071CA59-05CB-496C-B4EF-92E72EFD87CF
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