Another U.P. city pushes to be tobacco-free

ISHPEMING — [UPDATE — Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016 8:07 p.m.] During the meeting, the city council decided to form a two-person committee with the intention of exploring options for a smoking policy in public parks. However, no action has been taken at this time.

Ishpeming’s Parks and Recreation commission has been discussing policies to outlaw tobacco on local playgrounds. That was a major topic of discussion at tonight’s Ishpeming city council meeting.

Ishpeming was inspired by Marquette’s tobacco-free policies and are hoping to follow similar guidelines – first and foremost, to watch out for the health of children roaming the city’s playgrounds.

“The Parks and recreation commission has been discussing this for probably about six months. The last parks and recreation meeting made a recommendation to move forward,” explained Ishpeming city manager, Mark Slown, “The specifics of the policy have not yet been determined. So tonight, the council is going to decide if this is something we want to pursue.”

If they do pursue the changes, specific draft ordinance language and policy would be put together for future discussion. If that is the case, public hearings would be held to allow for public input.

Stay with ABC 10 for updates as tonight’s council meeting moves along.