Lexington Update
Lexington Voters Reject Smoking Ban
Mayor Disappointed In Referendum Result
November 9, 2006
LEXINGTON, Neb. — In an era when cities across the nation are banning public smoking, one central Nebraska city bucked the trend.
Voters in Lexington rejected a proposed smoking ban on a 941-835 vote Tuesday.
Mayor Ted Cook said Lexington marred itself with the vote, adding “people must like secondhand smoke.”
The city council pushed the proposed ordinance, which would have banned smoking in public and work places in the city.
It would have allowed business owners to create enclosed, ventilated spaces for smokers.
Within the past few weeks alone, cities in Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi and South Carolina have adopted smoking bans.
In Nebraska, only Lincoln and Omaha have adopted general public smoking bans.
Ordinance goes up in smoke
11/08/2006
Lindsey Tederman
LEXINGTON – After all numbers came in Tuesday night, Lexington’s smoking ban ordinance did not pass, putting to rest a yearlong community debate. Voters rejected the ordinance by 106 votes with 941 individuals voting against the ordinance and 835 voting for it.
Discussion on the smoking ban ordinance began last winter and came to a climatic end last night when opponents of the ban had their wish granted. They consisted of various community business owners, argued that if the smoking ban ordinance passed, local businesses would experience loss of revenue. Proponents of the ban cited the issue as a serious public health concern.
To prove their case, opponents found problems in the Lincoln ordinance, the example that the Lexington City Council used to draft its own ordinance. They noted a decrease in Lincoln’s sales tax within the last year, causing the city to cut its annual budget, affected the city’s police and fire departments. They also correlated Lincoln’s loss in revenue to the increase in revenue in neighboring city, Waverly.
11/08/2006
Lindsey Tederman
LEXINGTON – After all numbers came in Tuesday night, Lexington’s smoking ban ordinance did not pass, putting to rest a yearlong community debate. Voters rejected the ordinance by 106 votes with 941 individuals voting against the ordinance and 835 voting for it.
Discussion on the smoking ban ordinance began last winter and came to a climatic end last night when opponents of the ban had their wish granted. They consisted of various community business owners, argued that if the smoking ban ordinance passed, local businesses would experience loss of revenue. Proponents of the ban cited the issue as a serious public health concern.
To prove their case, opponents found problems in the Lincoln ordinance, the example that the Lexington City Council used to draft its own ordinance. They noted a decrease in Lincoln’s sales tax within the last year, causing the city to cut its annual budget, affected the city’s police and fire departments. They also correlated Lincoln’s loss in revenue to the increase in revenue in neighboring city, Waverly.
Smoking ban is on the ballot
08/26/2006
Barb Bierman Batie
LEXINGTON – On a 3-2 vote Tuesday night the Lexington City Council approved a resolution placing a smoking ban ordinance on the November general election ballot. The community joins hundreds across the nation debating the smoking issue. Voting in favor of the resolution were Mayor Ted Cook and council members Linda Miller and Joni Bennett. Voting against the measure were council members John Fagot and Steve Tomasek.
Barb Bierman Batie
LEXINGTON – On a 3-2 vote Tuesday night the Lexington City Council approved a resolution placing a smoking ban ordinance on the November general election ballot. The community joins hundreds across the nation debating the smoking issue. Voting in favor of the resolution were Mayor Ted Cook and council members Linda Miller and Joni Bennett. Voting against the measure were council members John Fagot and Steve Tomasek.
The ordinance being considered is similar to one passed by Lincoln voters in November 2004, which has few exceptions and bans smoking in all restaurants and businesses. Three amendments were approved tailoring the measure to Lexington. They include a clause placing all businesses within the city’s two-mile zoning jurisdiction under the ordinance, a section allowing businesses to create a ventilated smoking room within their building for smokers and finally a clause exempting private, non-residential buildings on a farm or ranch where the annual gross income is less than $500,000.
In other unfinished business the council discussed a draft ordinance requiring street vendors to be licensed and regulated. The ordinance is based on one used by South Sioux City, said City Manager Joe Pepplitsch, who noted their population mix and size is similar to Lexington’s. “This ordinance is working well for them,” he said.
Local businesses have voiced concerns about out-of-town vendors who come in for a few days and leave, never paying sales tax or following other state regulations.
“We have a wide variety of vendors anymore and I would estimate maybe 50 percent are from out-of-town. I don’t know where they’re coming from to tell you the truth,” said Pepplitsch.
The proposed ordinance would promote stable vendors, he said, requiring those selling goods or food to be licensed and carry identification badges. In addition, anyone engaging in the sale of prepared food or beverages will be required to furnish and maintain a health inspection certificate from the Nebraska Department of Health. While the proposed ordinance outlines the steps needed to obtain a license, it does not address license fees, said City Attorney Will Weinhold. “We need to focus next on the license fees,” he noted.
The final piece of unfinished business found the council suspending the rules and passing on second and third reading an ordinance adopting sexual predator residency restrictions.
The restrictions mean convicted sexual predators may not live within 500 feet of a school or licensed daycare facility in the community, which in Lexington leaves few neighborhoods to find living quarters, noted Pepplitsch. Under new business the council approved plans and specifications for a handicap ramp improvement project, giving city staff authority to proceed to advertise for bids contingent on approval of the project plans by the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR). NDOR is providing federal funds to help offset the costs of the project.
Dana Daniels of Miller and Associates in Kearney noted the project includes improving sidewalk and curb access for nearly 40 intersections in town. Daniels said cost estimates range from $100,000 to $240,000 as he expects a wide variety of bids. “This is more specialized work and many contractors can’t use their bigger machines and equipment on curbs. More hand framing and hand work is involved,” he said.
Split views heard at forum on proposed smoking ban vote
30 July, 2006
Barb Bierman Batie
Barb Bierman Batie
LEXINGTON – In baseball terms it was a split decision Wednesday night between proponents of a proposed smoking ban ordinance and those opposed to such a ban.
The Lexington City Council conducted a public forum at the Grand Generation Center attended by about 40 people to receive input on whether to place a smoking ban ordinance on the general election ballot.
Local bar and restaurant owners made it perfectly clear they opposed the measure, citing loss of business as their number one concern.
Buck Teply, manager of The Box Bar, noted if a non-smoking ordinance were adopted it would put Lexington at a disadvantage. “We’re already losing people to Kearney. This will just send them there or to Cozad or Overton. I feel it will eventually come through the state (legislature), so why should we mess with it,” said Teply. Kristie Teply, owner and manager of Tep’s Bar and Grill, referred to what’s happened in Lincoln since that city instituted a smoking ban through a November 2004 vote. “Bars that have beer gardens (where smoking is permitted) are booming, those that don’t have, lost business. I really do think it would hurt our business,” Teply said.
Buck Teply noted he had contacted 10 Lincoln businesses and all had been impacted since Lincoln’s smoking ban went into effect in January of 2005. “Big John’s Billiards – it killed their business – it dropped by 55 percent after the smoking ban and they are now closed three days a week. Big Red Keno had to put in a smoking garden and their business is just now coming back to normal. Hollywood Bowl had a 10 percent drop and they were forced to put in a smoking garden. Brewsky’s had a 10 percent drop until they put in a beer garden and it goes on. Another thing about Lincoln is you have to wade through the smoker’s to get in to the business,” said Teply.
“Can we have beer gardens in Lexington? Where are people going to go?” he concluded.
Second-hand smoke should not be an issue as that’s a given, she said. “Tep’s has a non-smoking area and we spent a great deal of money to put in a ventilation system. We put money into that business to produce a nice atmosphere. It’s scary to think we can put up to a vote by the public what I can do in my business.”
She addressed Mayor Ted Cook, saying, “It would be like putting up to a public vote whether or not there should be organic farming within a certain radius of Lexington and you would have to live by that decision.”
(Cook, a farmer, has farmland within the city’s two-mile zoning jurisdiction.)
Brad Larson, who operates Strike and Spare Bowl, looked at another angle. “I looked at the state sales tax forms I fill out each month and the revenue that comes back to the city is roughly $400 a month. If a smoking ban were in place I think that revenue would drop. We’re just a small town in rural Nebraska. We’re driving everybody to Kearney, North Platte, Lincoln and Omaha.
“You shouldn’t be running our business. If you want, I’ll give you the key and the checkbook,” Larson told the council.
Dave Lawhead, manager at the Lexington Vet’s Club, noted, “You won’t find any business here in favor of a ban. I don’t think we should rush into this. Let us get some real numbers. What’s the hurry? We’ve gone our whole life without one (a ban), why do we have to have one now? “This is a very hard law to enforce. I can’t imagine a customer from out-of-town coming through and being told they can’t smoke in this town. They’ll probably go on down the road,” said Lawhead.
After the first four speakers, Lisa LeVan-Steward, who manages the Holiday Inn Express, presented a different line of thought. “I speak from 20 some years in the hospitality business and I ask, what about the business you’re going to gain?”
LeVan-Steward noted that right now 10 percent of the rooms at her hotel are set-aside as smoking rooms. “The people coming through this community the majority of the time want non-smoking rooms. My 10 percent is only seven rooms and often I can’t rent them because they are smoking rooms. I don’t see this as a bad thing. I see it as potential for a whole new type of business,” she said.
Ken Kring, who noted he gave up smoking in 1969, spoke in support of the smoking ban. “When I go to a different town to eat and I can’t find a non-smoking area I leave. I understand your problems,” Kring told the bar and restaurant owners, “but think of other people who don’t smoke and what it can cause in time to come.”
Lori Edwards, who works at Tyson and operates Wild Thing hair salon in Lexington, noted she is asthmatic and must sit with non-smokers when she goes to local establishments. “I would appreciate non-smoking establishments. At my salon there already is no smoking because of the chemicals involved,” Edwards said.
The final speaker in support of the ban was Lexington resident Karen Darby. “I would love for Lexington to have a non-smoking restaurant. When we go to Lincoln it’s great. I don’t care how careful you are with dividing your areas, how good your ventilation system is, you can still come out smelling like smoke,” said Darby.
While other council members have not weighed in as to their personal opinions on the proposed ban, Cook told the audience Wednesday night that he personally had made up his mind on the proposal. “I anticipate the council will take this up at the next meeting and anticipate the council will look at it seriously,” he said.
The next regular city council meeting will be Aug. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the city offices.
Lincoln ban is model for Lexington’s no smoking discussions
07/15/2006
Barb Batie Bierman
Barb Batie Bierman
(Editor’s note: This is the second story in a three-part series on Lexington’s discussions regarding placing a smoking prohibition ordinance on the November general election ballot.)
LEXINGTON – Simple, yet comprehensive, Lincoln’s no smoking ordinance allows few exemptions and carries some stiff penalties for violators.
It is the ordinance the Lexington City Council proposes using as a framework for discussion when they meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 26 at the Grand Generation Center for a public forum on whether to place a smoking prohibition ordinance on the November general election ballot.
The ordinance makes it unlawful for anyone to smoke in a place of employment or a public place. This includes bars, restaurants, keno operations and so forth.
Exceptions are few and include hotels or motels, which are allowed to designate up 20 percent of their total guestrooms or suites as smoking rooms and laboratories, which are permitted to conduct research into the health effects of smoking.
An ordinance signed by Omaha mayor Mike Fahey in June is not as comprehensive. The Omaha version bans smoking in most workplaces beginning in October. Bars that don’t serve food, keno outlets and Horseman’s Park are granted five-year exemptions under the Omaha ordinance.
Approved by Lincoln voters in November 2004, the Star City ordinance went into effect on Jan. 1, 2005. Hailed by non-smokers as a ‘breath of fresh air,’ it is meeting with mixed reviews by Lincoln bar owners.
According to statistics from the Nebraska Department of Revenue, after Lincoln’s ban went into effect, sales tax revenue from bars, restaurants and caterers in Lincoln increased 2.5 percent to $4.97 million from 2004.
However, the Nebraska Department of Labor shows employment at bars was down nearly 5 percent on average each month in 2005 compared with 2004.
In addition, Lincoln keno wagers decreased nearly 19 percent to $18.82 million from 2004 to 2005, according to the city’s finance department.
While keno revenue has rebounded some this year, it is still below 2004 levels, the department noted. Because keno revenues help fund Lincoln city operations, there have been some cuts, but city department heads are reluctant to show real concern just yet.
As for bars the ban has had a mixed impact. Bar tabs at Misty’s Steakhouse and Lounge in northeast Lincoln are down 50 percent, but at the Red Fox Steakhouse in west Lincoln food sales went up 20 percent and alcohol sales also increased.
Proprietors or employers found in violation of Lincoln’s smoking ban face fines of $100 and costs for the first offense; $200 and costs for the second offense; and $500 and costs for the third offense.
The council and City Attorney Will Weinhold note they are interested in receiving written comments from citizens on the proposed ordinance. Anyone with suggestions for the ordinance or comments may direct them to: City of Lexington, Attention: Assistant City Manager Dennis Burnside, P.O. Box 70, Lexington, NE 68850, or they may bring them to the city offices at 406 E. Seventh St.
Lexington to join smoking ban discussions
07/08/2006
Barb Bierman Batie
Tuesday night Lexington will become the latest in a string of Nebraska communities to discuss a no smoking ban. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers.
07/08/2006
Barb Bierman Batie
Tuesday night Lexington will become the latest in a string of Nebraska communities to discuss a no smoking ban. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers.
Smoking ban talks tabled until July
31 January, 2006
Barb Bierman Batie
Barb Bierman Batie
LEXINGTON – Action on an ordinance that would institute a no smoking ban for city restaurants and bars was tabled until July 11 following a vote Tuesday at the Lexington City Council meeting.
The council noted they would use the time between now and the summer meeting date to research and review ordinances and action by other communities who have instituted or discussed no smoking bans, as well as share that information with citizens through a public information campaign in the local paper.
It was the consensus of the council that the issue be placed on the November general election ballot so citizens would have the final say on the matter.
“The assumption is that restaurants and bars will take a nosedive (after a smoking ban),” said council member Linda Miller. “That has not been the case. I would like to do a series of news articles and a public information campaign on the issue.”
Miller has become the council’s point person on the smoking ban, collecting sample ordinances from other communities, as well as researching what other communities have done both before and after enacting or discussing smoking bans.
Initially Mayor Ted Cook pushed for placing the issue on the May primary ballot.
Initially Mayor Ted Cook pushed for placing the issue on the May primary ballot.
“If you choose to do that you will need to have something ready by March 1 to be placed on the ballot,” said City Attorney Will Weinhold. “Otherwise Sept. 1 is the deadline for placing an issue on the general election ballot.” Councilman John Fagot noted, “I would just as soon wait until fall. I feel we are moving awfully quickly for something this controversial.”
Councilman Steve Tomasek agreed. “I don’t see a problem with waiting until November,” a view also held by Miller and council member Joni Bennett.
Councilman Steve Tomasek agreed. “I don’t see a problem with waiting until November,” a view also held by Miller and council member Joni Bennett.
Of the ordinances they have reviewed so far, Weinhold noted he favored the one adopted by Lincoln. “The Lincoln ordinance is simple. Broad, but simple, it doesn’t fool around with a lot of exceptions.”
In other business the council voted to direct the sale of three lots in south Lexington to the Lexington Council for Economic Development for housing development purposes. City Manager Joe Pepplitsch noted that spec homes would be built on two of the lots and that one of the houses is almost done.
The council voted to suspend the rules and approve the sale ordinance on final reading.
Also under new business the council approved a resolution authorizing the City of Lexington to enter into an agreement with the Nebraska Department of Roads to install historical lighting in the Main Street District. The funds come with an 80-20 federal-local match. The latest lighting will have a federal share of $47,780 and a city share of $11,995.
In addition, the council approved another resolution authorizing the city to enter into an agreement with NDOR to construct a pedestrian and bicycle trail. The trail has qualified for the 80-20 match with federal paying $462,861 and the city $115,715.
In the second year of the Lexington Volunteer Fire Department Service Award program, the council voted to approve the certification list and place $500 in the accounts allowed by state statute changes two years ago.
Appointments approved by the council include: Steve Atwood to the Community Redevelopment Authority (CRA); and Janelle VerMaas and Marian Berke to the Library Board.
