By PIERRE COMTOIS
Sun Correspondent

The measure, effective Sept. 5, allows the town to levy $50 fines on anyone caught smoking in a restaurant or food service business, or on any business owner or operator failing to comply with the new bylaw.

The 93-48 decision overrode objections by Chuck Dipasquale, owner of Rocco's Restaurant on Main Street, who asked residents to support an amendment to the ban that would permit smoking sections in restaurants that have more than 100 seats.

Although Dipasquale had his supporters, he was unable to win over enough of the 301 voters at the meeting. His amendment failed, 99-50.

With a simple majority vote, residents Saturday also passed a measure giving selectmen the power not to grant licenses to businesses "for any automatic amusement device that presents a risk of misuse as a gaming device."

Machines at risk of being used for gambling include those that involve matching random numbers or patterns of cards, have mechanisms for adjusting odds, have remote controls allowing them to be reset from a distance, or can return to the player more money than simple change for a purchase.

The measure, supported by the Finance Committee allows for machine inspections by police before any license is awarded by selectmen, "immediate seizure" if a machine should be found in operation without a license, and a fine of $200 for each offense.

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