Wasilla City Council opens plastic bag ban for public comment

WASILLA — The Wasilla City Council, on Monday, opened public hearing on Ordinance 17-24, which would ban all plastic, ‘single-use’ bags in the city.

Carolyn Montgomery, representing a local group in favor of such a ban, told the council that she has found a large number of Mat-Su residents support the ban on plastic bags at stores because of the contamination of natural beauty and the threat such bags pose to wildlife.

She said her group has disseminated some 2,000 bags within the last year, and called to audience members to rise and show their support at the meeting as her 3-minute allotment expired.

She was followed by Todd Smoldon, of Willow, who questioned the wisdom behind such a move.

Mayor Bert Cottle has said repeatedly that part of the impetus for banning all bags outright in the city was to protect businesses should the Borough Assembly institute a borough-wide tax on plastic bags.

Smoldon argued that was allowing the city’s policy to be ‘bullied.’

“If the council bans plastic bags that is setting a dangerous precedent,” Smoldon said. “As (Cottle) said, Palmer is watching and they’ll see you changed your policy because you were bullied and not because it was in the best interest of the community.”

The ordinance was moved to the floor, where council member Stuart Grant motioned to add a second night for public discussion. That amendment passed unanimously, with council member James Harvey absent, and, as a result, the city will hold two public hearings on the matter — one Dec. 11 and a second Jan. 8.

Another issue moved to the Dec. 11 meeting was Action Memorandum 17-48 to approve The City Of Wasilla’s Fiscal Year 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report For Public Record.

Graham, citing that members had not had adequate time to review the report, requested the additional time.

That motion passed without objection.

Earlier in the meeting, Joy Merriner, from BDO tax and accounting services spoke to the council about her findings in an audit of the city’s financial records for fiscal year 2017.

Merriner said there were no irregularities of note in her report.

“It went very well, very straight forward, no significant issues or concerns,” Merriner said. “Your team does an excellent job of tracking things and moving things smoothly. This is the first municipal government (audit) we’ve issued this year, which gives you a sense of where you are in terms of being able to get things done. I can’t point to a significant financial weakness or concern.”

The council also passed unanimously, ordinance 17-23: Accepting A Planning Block Grant From The Matanuska-Susitna Borough In The Amount Of $225,000 And Appropriating Funds To Fiscal Year 2018 Budgets For Youth Court, Public Safety, And Non-Departmental Pass Through To The Palmer Police Department In The Amount Of $25,000, $75,000 And, $75,000, Respectively, And Assigning General Fund Balance of $50,000 For The Sexual Assault Response Team.

On Wednesday, the council will hold the first of two special meetings to address its financial plan heading into years 2019 and 2020. Cottle said each department will share its goals and initiatives and each meeting will be held to about two hours.

The first is Wednesday at 6 p.m. and the second on Dec. 13 also at 6 p.m.