Cooperstown parks are tobacco-free under a policy approved by village trustees.
The no-smoking policy went into effect immediately upon village board approval Oct. 20, though there isn't an enforcement clause.
``It's really an awareness issue,'' Jeff Katz, chairman of the Cooperstown Parks Board, said Monday.
For instance, the policy will discourage smokers from lighting up where children are present, officials said, and leaving a trail of cigarette butts.
Reality Check members were thrilled that trustees approved the measure, said Marcia Kuzubek, Otsego County coordinator for the anti-smoking organization. Though no enforcement clause exists, the smoke-free designation is important because it will raise awareness of health risks associated with smoking, she said, and people are likely to follow rules and policies that are in place.
``We hope that people will honor it,'' Kozubek said.
The local Reality Check is the youth-driven anti-tobacco group of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Otsego County.
Katz recommended the policy after teenagers involved with Reality Check made a case for banning smoking during a commission meeting Oct. 16, the release said. Kozubek said she would meet later this month with the parks board to discuss signs that are to be provided by Reality Check at CCE.
Members Ryen Martinez, Aiden Macaluso and brothers Tom and Chris Hogan showed commissioners the tobacco butts they collected in village parks, according to a media release from Reality Check, and the commissioners agreed to recommend a policy be adopted.
A year ago, teens from Reality Check approached Oneonta Parks Commission. That city panel recommended adopting a measure, and the Common Council's Intergovernmental Affairs Committee prepared a policy. On May 20, aldermen approved designating smoke-free zones in Neahwa and Wilber parks.
In Neahwa Park, the city designated the playground, Field 6 bleachers, skateboard park, swimming pool, Damaschke Field entrance and the interior of the large pavilion as areas where smoking is prohibited.
In Wilber Park, the playground, swimming pool, upper level near the Oneonta Middle/High School and the interior of the large pavilion are smoke-free zones. Swart-Wilcox Field also is smoke-free.
In Cooperstown last month, more than a dozen teens turned out for a parks cleanup, according to the release. They started at Lakefront Park and fanned out to Council Rock, Pioneer Park, Fairy Springs Park and to a parking lot where a train from Milford regularly drops off passengers.
No tally of cigarette butts was available, Kozubek said.
