As of May 11th- The Cattaraugus County businesses are: the bar Rough Cuts in South Dayton; Off Track Betting in Olean; the Ischua Fire Department, and the Kinney Hose Company in Weston Mills.
Each waiver application was voted on separately. To qualify for a waiver, businesses either have to show 15 percent loss in revenue or show other financial hardship, such as building a special room for smokers prior to the start of the ban in July(cannot build one after?).
Businesses also have to keep smoke from reaching non-smokers and staff by having a separately ventilated room with no paid workers serving the room.
Rough Cuts has a building for smokers, separated from non-smokers by a walkway, said Jordan in his report. After increasing the size of the fan to vent smoke outdoors and arranging for a stronger self-closing door to the smoking room, the building met the standards for the waiver, said Jordan.
The OTB facility had a separate room with separate ventilation and a self-closing door already in place, said Ellis.
The Ischua Fire Department originally had a separate room for non-smokers pressurized to keep smoke out, said Jordan. The deparment switched the rooms, changing the non-smoking room to a smoking room and venting the smoke outside, then using the larger room for non-smokers instead.
The Kinney Hose Company in Weston Mills already had a separate room set aside for smokers, said Jordan. He added that both fire facilities would have bingo volunteers in the smoking rooms for bingo, but those individuals would all be unpaid. “They have no paid employees in the smoking room,” he said. Under the criteria for the waivers, no paid employees are allowed in smoking rooms. This stems from the original intent of the law: preventing second-hand smoke from getting to workers.
Public Health Director Barbara Hastings said she was “very glad we can move forward with the waivers.” She added that other businesses had applied for waivers, and the health department was waiting for them to complete separate smoking facilities before the department can inspect the buildings.
