A full public hearing is scheduled Monday for an ordinance to create a 20-cent fee on each paper and plastic bag provided during checkout at City Market and Clark’s Grocery.
No one spoke up to criticize the fee when it was introduced at an Aug. 23 meeting, although council members did discuss the waste-reduction initiative among themselves, city Environmental Health Department staff and a few interested parties. The city usually conducts public comment during second (and subsequent) readings of an ordinance.
Last month, council members expressed a desire for more details, including how department staff arrived at 20 cents instead of a higher or lower figure. They also cautioned against any measure that would overburden the two grocery stores inside city limits that would collect the fees, and debated whether the stores should keep a greater percentage of the fee than the 5 percent that city staff proposed.
Read the rest of this report at .
