Two Town Council members to investigate plastic bag regulations

Dog poop time capsules part of the discussion

By Mark Reaman

Don’t expect a ban on plastic bags in the town of Crested Butte soon. But Town Council members Erika Vohman and Paul Merck will work with high school senior and activist Benjamin Swift to sort through options the council will consider at a later date.

Swift has asked the town to do what eight other Colorado communities have done: ban the use of single-use plastic bags. He came before the council on Monday, March 7 in the public comment section of the meeting to again voice his request.

But some council members have said banning plastic bags would be a hardship for tourists coming to town, while others say there are other priorities that should take precedence.

“Towns including Telluride and Aspen have regulations on plastic bag use and they are tourist towns, too,” Swift pointed out to the council. “I will again advocate for the town to ban plastic bags. I would ask the town staff to write an ordinance to that effect.”

A group of local supporters spoke in favor of the idea as well, at about 8:30 p.m. in the council meeting.

Not quite two hours later in the “other business” portion of the meeting, the council discussed the idea, with Vohman leading the charge. “I would like the staff to research what works in other towns in Colorado and beyond,” she said. “It is not a huge stretch to find out what could work best for us.”

“I would rather see a council member do the research. It seems appropriate,” said councilman Jim Schmidt.

“I want to see how our business community would deal with it. If they sign off on it, I’m good,” said councilman Roland Mason.

“What about the dog poop bags around town?” asked councilwoman Laura Mitchell. “They’re plastic. Would they have to be biodegradable?’

“Almost all of them are,” responded Vohman. “It wouldn’t make sense to put biodegradable dog poop in a plastic bag unless you are doing a time capsule.”

“There are good ideas and there are good policies,” said councilman Chris Ladoulis. “Let’s stick with good policies. Perhaps we buy cornstarch bags for Clark’s Market. Let’s look at ways that work for everyone. Let’s not do something just so we can say that feels good.”

Mayor Glenn Michel expressed frustration with the discussion. “We just had a two-day retreat about our town priorities,” he said. “This did not make the cut. The idea of relooking at the town’s Energy Action Plan got no support. But it is a document approved by the town and it addresses waste reduction. Banning plastic bags is not a priority in that action plan. So what is the real goal? That’s a policy discussion. While the idea is noble, if we are going to marshal out government power, are there better areas to spend time on and pass laws? I’m not sure this is priority number one for the staff. It would be taking their energy away from the mine situation, from the short-term rental issue and special events. I’m reluctant to support it when we identified, as a group, other priorities on our retreat.”

“I will work with Erika and Benjamin so as to not take staff time away from other things,” volunteered councilman Paul Merck. “It is good to keep this momentum going.”

“I think there are other things we can be doing and we should stick to what we agreed to at the retreat,” reiterated Michel.

Town attorney John Belkin said it would be easy to gather the ordinances from other towns dealing with plastic bag regulation. He will forward those regulations to Merck and Vohman.

The two council reps will meet with Swift and come back to the council with some potential options on how to handle the plastic bag issue in town.