TAYLOR– In an effort to curtail smoking on property owned by the Town of Taylor, the Town Council considered a new ordinance at their Aug. 2 meeting. “The Smoke Free Arizona Act does not include outdoor venues, so we have no authority. If somebody wanted to sit in the event stand at the rodeo and light up a cigarette, it is legal,” said Taylor Police Chief Larry Scarber, as the first reading of an ordinance for Smoking and Vaping in Public Places took place at the Taylor Town Council meeting.
The ordinance would allow the town to designate specific areas for smoking that would be marked as such. Once the ordinance is passed, the town would set up legally designated smoking and vaping areas at the rodeo grounds and any other area on town property as needed. Scarber also noted that with the increased popularity of vaping, it was recommended that vaping be included in the ordinance.
Scarber said that he recommended keeping the rodeo ground parking lot as a place people could smoke, saying, “I would rather them be calm and happy than making a scene. It is a meet point for many people. But if we get a complaint, we have to address it.” Scarber also reminded the council that the ordinance was still a draft and could be changed by the council as needed.
Town Manager Gus Lundberg presented the first reading of the ordinance to renumber Title 12, Chapter 15, dealing with the possession or consumption of alcohol in public places, to Title 8, Chapter 20.
“When the smoking and vaping ordinance came about, we were looking for the appropriate place to put that into the town code,” Lundberg said. “We felt it should be in the public safety section. But the alcohol was under public streets and sidewalks. So we are doing this ordinance to relocate it from Title 12 to Title 8, but nothing else within that town code will change.”
In other business, the council:
* Approved the additional Doing Business As (DBA) for Taylor-Snowflake Fire and Medical Department to include TSFMD as opposed to the current DBA of Taylor-Snowflake Ambulance.
* Approved the budget for the Sweet Corn Ranch Rodeo.
* Approved a proclamation declaring Sept. 12-15, as Navajo County Fair Days.
* Approved the council meeting minutes of July 12 and the July check register.
