NISKAYUNA — The Town Board is hoping to ban smoking in town parks and extend hours in its skate park.

The board conducted a public hearing Tuesday night on a proposed local law to ban smoking in parks, a step other area municipalities have already taken. A vote is expected in June.

The board also voted to purchase equipment that would allow the town to open the skate park during daylight hours, as opposed to the previous hours which were restricted to when an attendant could be there.

At the hearing on the smoking ban, several area students and parents spoke out in favor.

Stacey Thomas, the mother of a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old, spoke out as part of the Niskayuna Moms Group.

“I don’t want the example set and I don’t want their health endangered,” she said later.

The Capital District Tobacco-Free Coalition has offered to provide signs for the parks. Schenectady has already accepted signs, but with a scaled-back plan banning smoking at city pools and at Tiny Tots Land in Central Park.

The law would make it a violation of town code to smoke in a public park. But officials said they hoped the signs would allow parents to police themselves.

At the skate park, the board voted to purchase a turnstile that would allow access with a skateboard, but not with bikes and other vehicles. A motion-activated camera will also be installed.

Officials have had difficulty finding attendants to oversee the park, and that had severely limited the hours it is open. The new setup will allow the park to be open during daylight hours without an attendant, something the town’s insurance company has OK’d.

“We’ll monitor it closely and if it’s misused, the alternative will be closing it,” board member Liz Orzel Kasper said.

The park opened in 2002 at a cost of about $105,000 in town and county funds.

The turnstile is to cost $3,750, with the camera estimated at as much as $1,000. The amounts would be paid with money saved by not paying an attendant.

Also Tuesday, the board approved the promotion of Officer Joseph Twitty to the rank of police sergeant. An eight-year-veteran of the department, Twitty was promoted in a ceremony attended by his family and members of the department. Twitty is to receive a salary of $69,494.