Wasilla City Council considers plastic bag ban

WASILLA — Following a lengthy committee of the whole discussion at Monday evening’s meeting, the Wasilla City Council directed Mayor Bert Cottle to begin the process of developing an ordinance banning plastic bags within the city limits.

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly recently tabled action on a 10-cent plastic bag excise tax on “big-box” retailers grossing over $1 million in annual sales. The proposal is intended to cut down on the generated amount of plastic litter and reduce the amount of the product that enters Central Landfill in Palmer.

Three audience members commented on the topic prior to moving it into discussion among council members. The majority consensus of those speaking was to ban the bags outright instead of a tax.

Wayne Hatch said he had petitioned 16 of his neighbors and all were against a tax. He said while he doesn’t support the plastic bag industry, he doesn’t support additional taxes either.

“If we want to ban plastic bags, I’m all for it,” Hatch said.

Carol Montgomery, a member of the Mat-Su Zero Waste Coalition’s Plastic Bag Committee, said she was also in favor of a complete ban. Montgomery said if every Valley resident used four bags a week over a year span, the result would be the addition of more than 20 million bags. She said getting rid of them completely is a really important first step adding there “no magic bullet replacements.”

Following public comment, the topic moved before the council. Councilwoman Gretchen O’Barr began the discussion saying she still need to study the question more but was in support of a total ban if she could be convinced the bags are harmful to the environment.

“I don’t think the borough should use (bags) as a taxing mechanism,” said O’Barr. The councilwoman said she is in the process of trying to “train” herself to use reusable bags when shopping. She and several other council members said, like anything else, it’s a habit that needs to be developed.

“Basically, I think we’re all feeling the same way about it. If it’s bad for a big business, it’s bad for a small one,” she said.

Deputy Mayor Stu Graham said he was amazed by the amount of information — and misinformation — on the topic. Graham stated he discovered the average lifespan of a plastic bag is 20 seconds.

“While I’m all for citizens being able to make their own choice…it’s pretty obvious that we can’t always rely on ourselves to make the right choice,” Graham said. Graham said he felt the borough’s current legislation on the topic is inadequate and leaves many things unclear.

“I think the borough’s (proposed) ordinance is completely wrong on so many factors,” Graham said. “If they go (with the tax), I would support a ban…for us to penalize successful stores in the Valley only addresses a small part.”

Colleague Mike Dryden said he felt the borough’s proposal was a tax and has nothing to do with the assembly’s stated reasons.

“I’m against it,” Dryden said, adding the bigger question is what is done with all disposable packaging. “I do know that charging for a bag is not going to do it…If Wasilla doesn’t get ahead of the borough, you’re going to end up with a tax. If the only choice is to ban (plastic bags), I’ll go for that.”

Councilwoman Glenda Ledford said implementing the excise tax just on “big box” stores will not solve the problem.

“If we just ban in big box stores, we’re still going to have plastic bags,” said Ledford. “Wasilla needs to be up front. If we’re going to ban them, let’s ban them all.”

Colleague James Harvey said he is personally impacted by the topic in owning several farm animals.

“Every time I go out to their pen, there’s one there. They end up everywhere. I don’t think a tax is going to solve anything. I think it’s just a money grab. I support banning the plastic bags, (and) definitely don’t agree that tax is the answer,” Harvey said.

Once councilmembers had their say, Cottle asked for guidance on how they wished to proceed. The mayor said he thanked the assembly for holding off action on the topic until the council had time to discuss it. He said sampling the community, the one thing he heard was “don’t tax.”

“Don’t require us. Let us make the decision,” said Cottle in sharing the majority consensus of those he spoke with.

Deputy Clerk Lyn Carden said she had visited 20 stores within the city limits. She said her sample included clothing, food, auto and national retailers.

“Out of the 20, I haven’t found any opposed to a ban of plastic bags,” Carden said. She said a bag tax was a larger issue. She said several smaller businesses—under the $1 million in annual sales, saw the tax as a penalty for growth should they eclipse that mark. “I think we have a good sampling but they are not opposed to the ban,” Carden said.

At this point in the process, Cottle said he will bring something forward within the next one or two upcoming meetings.

Contact reporter Chris Ford at 352-2270 or chris.ford@frontiersman.com