Village of Godfrey Board of Trustees: Public Safety, Finance, Board Meetings
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GODFREY – Godfrey Parks and Recreation Director Chris Logan gave an update on his plans to add more no-smoking signs near park playgrounds and more at the July 1, 2025 Public Safety Committee meeting.
Under Logan’s latest recommendation, several new signs will be installed around various park facilities. These include six new signs posted near playgrounds, including three at Glazebrook, one at Homer Adams, one at Clifton Terrace, and one at the Lewis and Clark Baseball Fields Playground. Each of these signs will say, “No smoking within 15 feet of playground surface.”
Logan also suggested installing two signs at the splash pad, four at the soccer complex, eight at the baseball/soccer fields, two at the pickleball courts, and one sign each at the small and large dog parks. Each of these signs will feature a generic “no smoking” logo and language calling for “no smoking within 15 feet” of each facility’s fence. Eight other new signs will also remind park visitors not to smoke within 15 feet of shelters.
Trustee Sarah Woodman recalled concerns raised at the last meeting by a member of the public who was worried about the adverse respiratory effects secondhand smoke from smoking parents could have on children using nearby playground equipment.
“I thought that she had some valid concerns, we all agreed on that,” Woodman said. “So how do you govern it? Well, you can’t. There’s absolutely no way you’re going to catch people, and what, are you going to ticket them?
“People don’t like secondhand smoke, people don’t want their children around it, so we thought it should be addressed and Chris looked into some signage.”
Woodman added that signage is an “inexpensive” way to let the community know village officials care about addressing the issue and enforcing no smoking rules at public parks, which are supported by state statute. Trustee Craig Lombardi cautioned against putting up too many signs, but overall supported the additional signage.
One resident asked if there are enough receptacles for cigarette butts in local parks, where they often litter the ground. Logan said the village likely needs more cigarette butt receptacles in its parks, but acknowledged a need to encourage smoking visitors to use the ones currently available to help keep Godfrey parks clean.
A full recording of the July 1, 2025 Godfrey Public Safety Committee meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
