All Rocky Hill Grounds and Properties Will Be Smoke-Free

At its latest Town Council meeting, the Council proposed and adopted a motion to make all Rocky Hill municipal properties smoke-free.

"I think this is the way to go and I'm 100 percent for it," Mayor Timothy Moriarty said as he introduced the proposal. "Everywhere you go it is already smoke free. All state buildings, hospitals and schools are smoke-free. I think its the direction we are going in."

One of the questions from the Council to Town Manager Barbara Gilbert was if this proposal would include the parks and be enforced during the concerts that are put on over the summer.

"It sure will include the parks," Gilbert said. "One of the biggest complaints we get from the parks and recreation and from those using the parks is there are cigarette butts all over the ground. The employees have to clean up those butts. I can tell you I wouldn't like to have to clean them up."

Councilors asked how the town would enforce the smoke-free rule. 

"At our concerts we used to ask people who were going to smoke to sit at the top of the knoll but at concerts this year we will announce that there is no smoking," Gilbert said. "We will also have some signage to let people know that the parks and other areas are all smoke-free now. I don't think we're going to be fining people right away but we will tell them and then warn then and if they repeat it, we will fine them because it will be an infraction."

Gilbert said this will be similar in the amount of enforcement to the "pooper scooper" law.

"If someone calls and says a guy walked up my street and his dog did his business and didn't pick it up there isn't a lot we can do," Gilbert said. "But if they call and know the person and their address we can do something about that. This will be similar in nature."