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TOWN OF MASHPEE TOS+,i'' Or M,;SHPEF_ BOARD OF HEALTH r'N N CLERhl April 5, 2001 01 MAY I I PM 1: 22 Public Hearing on Proposed Smoking Ban Article for Town Meeting Meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m. Members present: Steven R. Ball, John T. Doherty, L. Glenn Santos, and Veronica A. Warden THE TAPE IS NOT PART OF THE MEETING; IT IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRANSCRIPTION ONLY. Mr. Steven R. Ball, Chairman Board members began by asking for comments from the residents and business owners gathered. Robin Hallman of Mashpee stated that she is a medical doctor and also a part time bartender in Mashpee. She stated that she feels that the Board of Health has done an excellent job in the past with their current regulation. She also stated that she didn't feel that the Board's decision should be overridden by somebody else making choices for other people. Mr. Doherty stated, "A number of years ago, the Board of Health passed some regulations in town, which sought to limit the exposure of non-smokers to second hand smoke. They have been in place for quite a while and the Board has only received maybe two written, formal complaints. It's worked pretty well and we've all agreed that if it wasn't working, we'd have a lot more complaints on file. As time goes on, however, society has moved forward and changed a little bit and smoking regulations are becoming more prevalent across the country, to the point where the Town of Barnstable recently initiated a town-wide ban in all of the restaurants and bars. The Cape Cod Regional Tobacco Control Program has drafted a similar ban for the Town of Mashpee that has been endorsed by a number of residents. It's this proposal that the Board is going to hear comments on tonight. The proposal was not put forward by the Board of Health; it was put forward by petition and will be an agenda item for Town Meeting. Should this article pass, it would institute a town-wide smoking ban in Mashpee and all public workplaces, including restaurants, bars and essentially become law within the town of Mashpee with the Board of Health being the agency designated to enforce it. It's always been a rather lively topic on both sides of the fence and, as a Board, we neither have endorsed it nor have we voted against it. The regulation will be up for decision on the Town Meeting floor." Mr. Bob Collette of the Cape Cod Regional Tobacco Control Program stated, "This petition is citizen-driven. We were approached by some folks in town to provide them with some ideas on how they could get something going here in town so that they could have a smoking ban just like Barnstable has and most of the towns east of