Altavista considering going tobacco-free at parks

The town is considering going tobacco-free at parks and recreation areas.

Town Council unanimously agreed Tuesday night to host a public information session March 13 to find out if residents are interested in declaring the town’s recreational areas tobacco-free.

At the information session, held during March’s Town Council meeting, residents will determine if the policy goes into effect and, if so, what it will entail.

Town Manager Waverly Coggsdale said the issue surfaced a while ago when the recreation committee began looking at long-range policies and youth sports.

Tobacco use in public places has created litter problems and challenges for some residents, said Dick McKeel, chairman of the five-member recreation committee, which voted unanimously to enact the policy.

“It’s a health issue for a lot of people,” McKeel said. “There are people who have breathing problems and it causes a problem for them, even being around smoke from cigarettes.”

The town’s recreation committee submitted a proposal to Town Council recommending the town not allow tobacco use on town-owned parkland, at park facilities or in open spaces except for within the confines of a vehicle in a designated parking area.

According to the proposal, enforcement would be through voluntary compliance, as it would not be an ordinance, but simply a policy. In addition, the committee recommended the town promote and discuss the policy with the public. 

The policy stands to have a large impact on youth, said McKeel, who hopes the town will support the proposal March 13.

“It’s educational decision, that emphasizes to young people the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke,” he said.

In other business:

- After a prolonged debate Tuesday night, Town Council approved spending $8,500 to further study the use of “green technology” as a method to remove PCBs from the emergency overflow pond at the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

The PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls — stuck to the sludge on the clay lining of the pond — were identified in the summer of 2000, two years after the Department of Health issued a fish advisory for the Staunton River.

The town has until the end of 2013 to remove all PCBs from the pond, if it stays enrolled in the current remediation program. As a result, representatives from Ecolotree will be allowed to plant trees in the pond to determine the possible impact of phytoremediation, which is a method of removing contaminants through plant use. 

- Council approved six budget amendments totaling $81,300 on Tuesday. Within the amendment was a $7,700 bill for a staff and Town Council retreat. The funds paid for four full days of training — two for town staff and two for council members in October and December respectively.