Unalaska, AK – The city council unanimously passed the first reading of an amended smoking ban Tuesday night. After almost an hour of public comment the council decided to change the smoking ban so it does not apply to any employer-owned bunk housing. Many community members, including those who own their own private residences, said regulating smoking in bunkhouses infringes on people's private lives and it would be too difficult to enforce. All but one council member agreed.

The council also voted to enact the ordinance themselves and not bring it to a public vote because they have been listening to public testimony for long enough to know what the community wants. Community members spoke both ways on this issue at the meeting. Some high school students said that they did not have a vote and relied on the city council to act on their wishes, which included banning smoking.

The council also amended the ordinance so that it will go into effect immediately if it passes the second reading on May 12 and businesses must be fully compliant by about August 10. The few community responses to this topic were mixed.

The last topic of debate was if or how business owners should be fined if someone smokes in their buildings. The council agreed to change the ordinance so that owners would be fined if they knowingly allowed smoking on the premises. Public Safety Director Jamie Sunderland said that this is a fair way to hold owners responsible without being unreasonable.

"We want to make sure to not ticket and not enforce against people who don't have a role in it." Like if a bartender didn't know some one was smoking in the corner. "But I think it's important to hold business owners or managers accountable for some of the activities that take place in there. For example, if you were to just sit back and say Well the ticket's on you if you smoke and it's not my problem.'" And then let people smoke.

The new ordinance also has set charges for violations, just like for speeding tickets. The first offense costs $100, the second within a 12-month period is $200, and the third is $500.

"It is not negotiable, it doesn't go up or down, it's just that. Like a speeding ticket, you can just pay it," he said.

Sunderland said he's not worried about the smoking ordinance being an enforcement issue. "I think we're going to see a lot of compliance. I think people have traveled around the U.S. and these things do exist elsewhere. And I think once you go in and see signs and you know the ash trays have been moved out. I just don't think it's going to be a big problem."

The council will listen to more public testimony and the ordinance will go to a final vote at the May 12th meeting.