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Artisan signage and smoking policy rule courthouse meeting

A discussion on signage at the Warren County Courthouse turned into a discussion about smoking during Monday’s Commissioners work session.

After a walk-through of the building last week, Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said that there are “problems with people walking around the building” when they approach the front door and realize it is closed as access is restricted via single point of entry to the Fifth Ave. entrance.

Eggleston said that the county’s maintenance staff have “found a couple of companies that do historic signage” that have an artisan’s feel.

He proposed putting new signage at the entrances to the building as well as the driving entrances in order to do a better job of “hand(ling) the traffic flow of people in the building.”

He said that such signage could also be used to “reaffirm the policies of the courthouse.”

That’s when smoking came up.

“One of the things that we talked about, whenever we work on the parking lot, (is) putting a raised concrete bed out by the dumpsters in order to have a smoking area” and then “move all smoking to that concrete wall.”

Commissioner Ben Kafferlin questioned if the pad would be enough and said some kind of roof might be desired.

“I don’t know if we really want to accommodate smokers,” Commissioner Cindy Morrison said. Eggleston said he would have an issue with spending county tax dollars on such a structure.

“It’s not the employees,” Veterans Affairs Director Ed Burris told the commissioners, instead indicating that the heaviest smoking comes from people at the courthouse for court or jury duty.

The Veterans Affairs office is adjacent to where the cigarette receptacle is located on the Fifth Ave. side of the building.

“We can’t open our windows in the summer,” he said.

Morrison asked who would enforce changes to the rules covering smoking on the courthouse grounds and Chief Clerk Pam Matve said the Sheriff’s Office would have that right.

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