Posted for Nancy Yearout
RE/MAX Properties of the Summit, Breckenridge, Coloraso
nyearout@colorado.net
http://www.realestate-breckenridge.net
#Breckenridge, Colorado
The Breckenridge Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a new
10-cent fee on paper and plastic bags at all local retail and grocery stores.
The law will go into effect Oct. 1.
“This was good government,”
Councilman Mark Burke said ahead of the vote. “When this first began in the
beginning of my term on council, it was a very divided decision and this council
has come to a compromise.”
Money generated from the fees will be split
between the town and the retail businesses, who will be given a portion of the
fee to help recoup the cost of implementing the program, up to a certain amount.
The town will use fee revenues to purchase and distribute a branded
reusable Breckenridge bag and to educate the public about the fee program.
The charge for paper and plastic bags is part of an ongoing
sustainability effort by the council to reduce the use of disposable bags in
town.
“My vote is because I think this is right thing to do,” Councilman
Mike Dudick said. “It's also predicated on the notion that the government of
Breckenridge is going to step up and spend significant dollars to educate and
distribute reusable bags to the guests of this community.”
More than a
year in the making, the single-use bag issue has stirred up considerable
community debate, but no one spoke out against the bag fee during a public
hearing prior to the final vote Tuesday night.
Three elementary school
students, members of a core of 15 or 20 local children who took the well being
of the local environment and the campaign against plastic to heart, were in the
audience for the vote.
“Thank you to the children of this community,”
Councilwoman Jen McAtamney said. “(They) have consistently come to the council
and reminded us of our responsibility to take care of the earth so the snow
keeps falling here. ... I thank you for your public service in reminding us to
do what's right even when it's hard.”
The council approved the measure
on a 6-0 vote to a smattering of applause from the audience. Mayor John Warner
was absent.
The council previously discussed a full ban on plastic bags
at large grocery stores and a voluntary reduction program at other retailers,
but backed away from that approach after some town leaders noted that it was
unfair.
Communities which have imposed fees in the past have seen up to
80 percent reductions in the use of disposable bags, according to town staffers.
Single-use fees have been adopted at the local level in Telluride,
Aspen, Basalt, Boulder and internationally. Some cities where disposable bags
are charged have seen a significant decline in use.
The amount of the
Breckenridge fee was set based on an analysis model used by Boulder in
determining the appropriate charge for a disposable bag.
The ordinance
does not address the use of disposable bags or containers in restaurants or
other businesses, although it's an issue Breckenridge officials say they plan to
discuss in the future.
The bag fee has drawn criticism from some locals
who call it a “sin tax” and say tourists won't understand or appreciate the
charge. But others, including retailers and grocers in town, support the plan.
Most of the staff at Food Kingdom Grocery and Liquor is in favor of the
fee.
“The less plastic bags we see coming out of there the better,”
assistant manager Kyle Rouze said.
City Market, the largest grocer in
Breckenridge and currently the operator of the only plastic bag recycle center
in town, has declined to comment on the issue.
More than 3 million
plastic bags are used in Breckenridge each year.
Courtesy of the Summit Daily News
