Smokers will soon have to find a designated area if they want to light up a cigarette on Potter County property. County commissioners voted 3-2 Monday to restrict smoking at county buildings to designated areas, excluding leased property such as the Tri-State Fairgrounds and Amarillo National Bank Sox Stadium. People will be allowed to smoke in a private vehicle on county property. “When it starts to affect the other person, then you have to look at doing something different, and I think that’s where we are,” Commissioner Joe Kirkwood said.
“People certainly have the right to smoke, but if it is affecting other people and they are breathing it or it’s getting on their clothes, then I think we have to do it.” The policy will take effect Aug. 1. County officials must identify smoking areas and install signage, as well as decide the penalties for smoking in a nondesignated area. Commissioners discussed a variety of options Monday, including a countywide smoking ban and restrictions on other tobacco products. Commissioner H.R. Kelly voted against the measure. He said he would prefer a full smoking ban on all county property. “When you ban it on county property there are no other issues,” Kelly said. Commissioner Mercy Murguia said she likes the policy because it gives authorities a realistic chance to enforce the law. “I think it’s a nice hybrid to be able to restrict it, but still have a designated location for those smokers,” Murguia said. “That gives us more leverage to actually enforce the policy.”
The commissioners had voted 3-2 June 11 to ban tobacco use on county property after a measure to designate outdoor smoking areas failed. However, the measure was not posted on the agenda so it was withdrawn for later consideration. In other business Monday, the commission kept in place a ban on certain aerial fireworks. The ban prohibits the sale or use of fireworks classified as “skyrockets with sticks” and “missiles with fins” under state law, while small fireworks and Class B explosives are allowed in unincorporated areas of the county. A group of fireworks dealers issued a news release June 13 stating its position that the partial fireworks ban is illegal because the Texas Forest Service had not declared Potter County to be in extreme drought conditions.
Murguia said the county chose to keep the ban because the Texas Forest Service continues to classify the county as an area with high fire danger. “I feel very comfortable with our decision to move forward with the ban,” she said. The ban only affects the parts of Potter County outside Amarillo because the city has ordinances that ban the use of fireworks. Nobody from the fireworks dealers association spoke at Monday’s commission meeting. There is no fireworks ban in effect in Randall County. Potter County Fire Chief Richard Lake said the county usually has more fire problems than elsewhere because it traditionally doesn’t receive as much rainfall as other Texas Panhandle counties. “Pretty much everything that happens firewise is going to happen with us and spread from there,” Lake said.
“Historically, we usually begin an active fire season and are usually the last ones to recover from it.” The U.S. Drought Monitor map shows the county in severe drought based on data collected Tuesday. The National Weather Service reported Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport has received 7.08 inches of precipitation since Jan. 1. That’s 1.98 inches below normal. During last year’s record drought, the airport had recorded just 0.68 of an inch of precipitation by this time a year ago.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий