GENEVA -- A special Kane County Board panel is being created to study banning smoking in public places in unincorporated parts of the county.
Board member Gerry Jones, D-Aurora, chairman of the Public Health Committee, will serve on the subcommittee. Also on it will be board members Jan Carlson, R-Elburn, and Bob Kudlicki, R-Hampshire, both representatives of the largest unincorporated areas of the county, and an as-yet-to-be-named member of the Public Health Committee.
Jones told Health Committee members Tuesday the subcommittee will "look at the possibility of exemptions" in an ordinance banning smoking in public places.
That ordinance is under review by board members. It is based on the same ordinance being considered in Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, Sugar Grove and Elgin. The city councils of the Tri-Cities could consider passage as early as next week.
The county's timing is coordinated with a month of education about secondhand smoke by the Health Department. Paul Kuehnert, Health Department deputy director, said officials are hoping to have hearings on a ban and get exemptions in place by the end of February.
The hearings and educational open houses will be held four times throughout the county during the month. They are scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. on:
• Feb. 5, Prisco Community Center, 150 W. Illinois Ave., Aurora.
• Feb. 6, The Centre, 100 Symphony Way, Ballrooms N and S, Elgin.
• Feb. 19, Sugar Grove Fire Protection District, 25 S. Municipal Drive, Sugar Grove.
• Feb. 20, Eagle Brook Country Club, 2288 Fargo Blvd., Geneva.
The Health Department will have educational material and displays these open houses. There also will be places people can give oral or written testimony on a smoking ban.
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