With sidewalks barely clean of snow ,Council considers sidewalk smoking ban at Valley, schools
Wednesday December 18, 2013, 10:37 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
The Ridgewood Council is weighing the pros and cons of a request to prohibit smoking on public sidewalks, specifically the village-owned walkways that abut all Board of Education and Valley Hospital properties.
Preliminary discussion on the appeal, which was made by school and hospital officials, has yielded split thinking among council members. The council entertained similar discussion earlier this year when it passed an ordinance creating a smoking ban in municipal parks.
“I had conversations with Dan Fishbein as well as Audrey Meyers … both of them would like us to extend our smoking ban in parks to the sidewalks,” said Mayor Paul Aronsohn of his recent talks with the Ridgewood schools superintendent and Valley’s chief executive. “This is a request from both of them, but more so from Dr. Fishbein and the Board of Education that we make it so no one can smoke on the sidewalks adjacent to the public schools and Valley Hospital.”
Let’s provide Valley Hospital another service. The started the smoke free campus. Now they want the police to clean up .
This is a waste of the Council’s time. Let’s focus on the important issues.
You want the Council to focus on something other then themselves. Good Luck