The hot-button issue on Monday’s St Joseph City Council Agenda is the renewed push for a smoking ban in the city. Smoke-Free St Joe’s petitions included the required number of signatures, and were certified by the county clerk, setting in motion some required action.

The Council must now either pass it or place it on the April ballot.

The ordinance being placed on first reading:

A Bill (#1434-10) amending Chapter 17 of the Code of Ordinances entitled “Health and sanitation” to add a new Article XI entitled “Smoke-free indoor air workplaces and public places” for purposes of providing for the adoption of provisions to prohibit smoking in indoor workplaces and public places and prescribing other matters relating thereto.

It’s worth noting that the Council will also vote on a memorandum of understanding with Affinity Gaming that formally expresses the city’s desire that the St Jo Frontier Casino be moved downtown. It was the casino’s announced intentions to leave St Joseph that scuttled earlier efforts to pass a clean-air ordinance.

Some scooters could soon get a green light on some city streets. First reading of the new ordinance is on the agenda tonight before the St Joe City Council. The city is formalizing rules that allow slower-moving scooters, those that can’t travel over 30 mph, on streets where the speed limit is no more than 35 mph.