Photos by Shelley Hanson Sanitarian Charles Fisher on Tuesday checks out cigarette butts littering mulched areas in front of the Wheeling City-County Building.

WHEELING — Once covered by layers of snow, hundreds of cigarette butts litter the area in front of the City-County Building. Workers and visitors often can been seen smoking on the building’s front porch. And since there currently is no ashtray or urn for folks to use, some smokers flick their butts on the porch, onto the sidewalks and Chapline Street, and into mulch surrounding decorative bushes owned by the county. A few years ago, a smoldering cigarette butt caught dry mulch on fire in front of the building, prompting a visit by the Wheeling Fire Department. At least one person apparently is trying not to litter when smoking — a foam cup sitting on a window’s ledge contains old, wet cigarette butts. Some may wonder why people are permitted to smoke in front of the building at all. A sign posted on a wall outside says “no smoking,” as ordered by the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department. However, that sign is meant only to warn people that smoking is not permitted inside the building, said Howard Gamble, health department administrator. “It is a very unsightly area; however, the City-County building is in compliance. ... Now there is a standing law that is being broken, and this is littering,” Gamble said. Gamble said sometime in the future the county’s board of health could consider expanding its Clean Indoor Air regulation to cover entrances to public buildings.