Plastic Bags » News Lincoln County

It’s official: A “Ban the Bag” measure is on the May Ballot in Newport

Feb 202013

Newport City Council punts to the voters
question of banning plastic carry out bags

Wikipedia photo

Newport City Councilors Tuesday night officially sent a “Ban the Bag” measure to the May ballot to let the voters of Newport determine whether plastic carry out bags should be outlawed starting right around Thanksgiving.

The proposal is aimed at large carry out plastic bags. Plastic bags for grocery store deli take-out and fresh produce would not be affected. In order to encourage store customers to switch to re-usable cloth or thick walled plastic bags, the measure would levy a five cent charge for each paper bag used by a shopper. So, no plastic, five cents for paper and no charge for using one’s own reusable bags.

The placement of the ban on the ballot ends a contentious year of wrangling among members of a council-appointed “Plastic Bag Task Force” that tried for months to get a consensus on how to approach the issue. But when the task force’s final report was delivered to the council, the months of controversy among its members played out badly. Those who favored banning the bags stormed out in protest vowing to place it on the ballot. Within a short time the council did them a favor by doing it themselves. Newport residents will cast their votes by May 21st. Implementation would begin on November 21st, giving local stores time to rid themselves of any plastic carry-outbags they still have in stock.

The proposed bag ban law is very similar to one that was enacted recently by the Corvallis City Council.

Share on Facebook

Plastic check-out bags headed for the May ballot in Newport

Plastic Bags No Responses »

Jan 232013

Plastic Check Out Bags
Headed for Newport Voters May 21

Newport City Council
Booted the Bag Ban to the Voters

Matt Hawkyard, Surfrider Foundation
Favors putting it to a citizens vote

After a long year of debate on whether the Newport City Council should, by ordinance, ban single use plastic check-out shopping bags, the council finally agreed that it’s best to put the issue to the voters and let THEM decide. The vote to send the issue to the May 21 ballot was unanimous.

Much of last year the issue was batted between members of a city council appointed plastic bag task force. Negotiations ended on a sour note with a mixed bag of recommendations ranging from no ban to full ban. When it landed back in the city council’s lap last fall they couldn’t make up their minds for the second time. Tuesday night, with several new members on the council, they punted. It’s now up to the voters.

If passed, local retailers that use single-use check out bags will have six months to phase them out. Some stores could get short term extensions if they haven’t run out of what they have in stock. They’ll also be required to charge five cents per paper bag used by customers in an effort to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags.

Plastic bags used in store deli’s, for grocery produce and take out food from restaurants are exempt in the proposed ordinance. Those bags are not affected.

Arguments for banning plastic bags run the gamut from filling up our landfills, littering our neighborhoods, business areas and beaches and harming wildlife. Those opposed to the ban contend the bags can be recycled if people would just cooperate. Plastic bags are convenient. Supporters also contend that reusable cloth or thick-walled plastic bags need to be cleaned between trips to the store. But because a lot of people don’t clean them, they’re a health hazard to themselves and to their fellow shoppers.

Newport voters decide the issue May 21st.

Share on Facebook

Newport City Council gets an infusion of fresh perspectives with new councilors, an update on a “Central Coast Fire Authority,” and putting “Ban the Bag” on the May ballot.

Central Coast Fire Authority, Newport, Plastic Bags No Responses »

Jan 072013

Newport’s new city council.

After selecting Lincoln County Solid Waste District Program Manager Mark Saelens to serve out the remaining two year term of former city councilor, now mayor, Sandra Roumagoux, Newport has a lot of new blood flowing through the political veins down at city hall.

Although former mayor Bill Bain and former city councilor Jeff Bertuleit pitched heavily to take over Mayor Roumagoux’s former position on the council, it came down to a 4 to 2 vote to appoint newcomer Mark Saelens. Saelens impressed a majority of the council that his extensive scientific education and experience in the field with natural resources (fisheries) and his passion to find “middle ground” in controversial issues will benefit the city. Saelens also outlined a strong and cogent approach toward enhancing Newport’s way forward to accelerated economic development. Saelens said it’s not enough to just apply for grants; the city must have “shovel ready” projects on the shelf, ready to go, when appropriate economic grants come along. Saelens also urged the council to think more collaboratively with surrounding towns and the county to enjoy the “multiplier” effect that granting agencies so often seek. Saelens also recommended Newport solicit opportunities to challenge University of Oregon and Oregon State University students and faculty to come up with development ideas from “state of the art” examples they know about and can apply to Newport. “Yes, it’ll cost money,” Saelens said, “but you’ll get good insight from some of the brightest minds in the region. They can tell us what’s worked in other cities and what hasn’t.”

Councilors David Allen and Ralph Busby threw their support to Jeff Bertuleit who they said had lots of experience with the city and was the voters’ #2 choice for a job at city hall. Allen challenged Saelens as to why he didn’t file for election like the others. Saelens said he was concerned that going before the voters after having heavy involvement in the controversial “plastic single use bag” issue, might have make a run for office “cloudy.” He said he had long considered a run for a council seat but “it was all about timing.” When the vote came, councilors Busby and Allen voted for Bertuleit with Sawyer, Swanson, Beemer and Mayor Roumagoux voting for Saelens. Moments later Saelens was sworn in and took his seat on the dais.

Later in the evening, Newport Fire Chief Phil Paige informed the council that after many meetings with surrounding fire departments, it appears that there is consensus building toward forming a new Central Coast Fire Authority, aimed at combining resources and manpower to provide a higher level of fire services for Depoe Bay, Newport, Newport Rural and Central Coast (Waldport) Fire Departments. Paige said from equipment and supplies purchasing to recruiting volunteers, collaboration and expertise sharing is the way forward for all four departments. Paige said there would be room for other Lincoln County fire departments like North Lincoln, Toledo and Yachats if they too found affiliating to be in their best interest.

The council seemed impressed with the progress to date and said they await the final plan to be presented to not only them but to the Newport Rural Fire Protection, Depoe Bay and Central Coast District Boards later this month or in early February. Under the proposal, a Central Coast Fire Authority would be formed but with no tax increase for anyone. Paige said the goal is to slow down future cost increases by more efficiently sharing fire prevention and fire fighting services and enhancing standardized training across all departments. Fire Chiefs and Assistant Fire Chiefs among the participating departments would jointly provide administrative, operational and fire prevention management.

The affiliative services approach was recommended by a nationally ranked fire services consulting group based in suburban Portland.

The Oregonian photo
Former Newport city councilor Terry Obteshka, favors ban

After wrestling with whether to ban single use shopping bags in Newport, or avoid the issue altogether, a process that created more heat and controversy than solutions, the city council Monday night decided to do what many had recommended all along – punt the issue to the voters and let THEM decide. Former city councilor Terry Obteshka and another member of the public recommended the ban and that it be placed on the May ballot. The measure being considered is similar to one passed by the residents of Corvallis last year that outlawed plastic bags and placed a fee on paper bags to encourage the public to switch to reusable bags. There will be another public hearing on the issue, at the end of which the council is expected to prepare a final ordinance for the May ballot.

Share on Facebook

A statewide plastic bag ban is on track for another attempt at the state legislature

Plastic Bags, Uncategorized No Responses »

Dec 092012

The Oregonian photo

With recent anti-plastic bag laws passing in Portland, Eugene and Corvallis, it’s given impetus for anti-bag groups to give it another statewide try at the legislature. The story is in the Oregonian. Click here.

Share on Facebook

Did Eugene find a way to ban plastic check out bags and makes sense doing it?

Plastic Bags 1 Response »

Oct 252012

Earlier this week, the Eugene City Council decided to ban check-out plastic bags for all of the usual reasons – clogging storm drains, wildlife threat, wasting oil to make them, filling landfills, and on and on. In order to drive shoppers to invest in durable re-use bags they slapped a five cent fee on paper bags. So, no plastic. Less paper. More reusable bags. No emotion. No screaming. No name calling. No political correctness, just unapologetic common sense. Here’s a comment on how it all happened in this piece from the Eugene Register Guard, which Newport anti-baggers might want to read as they move forward on putting the issue on the ballot here on the coast. Click here.

Share on Facebook

Newport: Plastic shopping bag issue appears headed to next May’s ballot

Plastic Bags 1 Response »

Oct 162012

After many months of sometimes very heated debate, the Newport Task Force on banning plastic shopping bags has failed to convince a majority of the Newport City Council to ban them and have shoppers use reusable bags. After hearing a report that a barely discernible majority of the task force wanted to see plastic bags phased out of Newport grocery stores, the council balked and voted to send the issue to the voters in May. In May the voters will be asked whether plastic bags should be banned and a fee be placed even on paper shopping bags.

Bag ban advocate Charlie Plybon of The Surfrider Foundation implored the council to do what over sixty cities in the U.S. country have already done – ban the bag which he says clogs our landfills, our dumpsters, litters the landscape, both private and public and clogs our storm drains. Plybon and others on the task force told the council that plastic bags are also deadly for wildlife. Plybon said even China bans single use plastic bags.

There were many rounds of debate centering on whether public education to encourage recycling would turn the tables on the bag. But it was quickly maintained by those advocating a ban, that such an open ended activity would be ineffective; that education without an eventual ban is a hallow lesson.

In the end, a majority of the council decided to put the whole thing on the May ballot. Supporters of a May vote like councilors David Allen and Dean Sawyer said that the task force may have been a bit too split to qualify as truly representing an accurate cross-section of the community. At first, the motion was to adopt an ordinance from Corvallis that bans plastic bags and slaps a fee on paper bags. It went down 4 to 3, with Mayor McConnell, Councilor Roumagoux and Councilor Brusselback voting for the ban, and councilors Allen, Beemer, Bertuleit and Sawyer voting no.

Councilor Roumagoux said “The council is elected to lead. We just need to do the right thing, here.” Councilor Bertuleit said “We should tell the grocery stores to charge a fee on plastic bags, coupled with public education.” Councilor Sawyer said he gets conflicting preferences from the people he talks to around town and that a public vote on the issue is the way to go. Councilor David Allen announced he was opposed to the ban and offered many theoretical options short of a ban.

In the end they put it to a vote of Newport residents. The vote was an identical 4-3 in favor (Roumagoux, McConnell and Brusselback against).

The recently passed Corvallis bag-ban ordinance will be used as a template that councilors will use as a basis for discussion before putting it on the ballot. It may be word for word with “Newport” replacing the word “Corvallis” in the ordinance, or it be modified in a way that better fits Newport’s circumstances. They didn’t elaborate on what that might be.

A few task force members stormed out of the council chambers – a couple offering obscenities as they left the room, saying they felt betrayed despite all their hard work.

The council said that the Corvallis ordinance will be brought before the council in the near future, in plenty of time to get a ban on single use plastic bags on the May Ballot.

Share on Facebook

Newport continues to talk about banning plastic bags…after several months, still at “conceptual” stage

Plastic Bags No Responses »

Aug 232012

Some months ago the city of Newport was asked to take up the matter of whether Newport retailers should be banned from offering single use plastic shopping bags to their customers. The council created a citizens and business community task force early last Spring to analyze options. Their findings and options on what to do with plastic bags will be presented to the city council at their November 5th meeting.

The next task force meeting is set for tonight, 5:30pm at City Hall. Here’s their discussion diagram:

Share on Facebook

Parade to “Ban the Bag” travels to Eugene

Plastic Bags 1 Response »

Jul 042012

Now that plastic shopping bags have been banned in Portland and Corvallis and is being “further analyzed” in Newport, anti-baggers are attempting another “plastic free beach head” in Eugene. The story is in the Corvallis Gazette Times. Click here.

Share on Facebook

A “ban” is anything but in the bag….

Plastic Bags No Responses »

Feb 062012

The Newport City Council Monday night is expected to send a proposal to ban plastic shopping bags off on a journey of exploring methods to reduce or eliminate their use in Newport. The local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation couldn’t convince a majority of the council earlier this year to outright ban the bags which they contend is a major pollution hazard to wildlife along with being a litter and carbon footprint problem because they’re made from processed oil. A majority of the councilors decided they wanted to hear more from town’s businesses and others who would be directly affected by such a ban.

City Councilors David Allen and Sandra Roumagoux came up with the idea that a task force, made up of representative of all “stakeholder groups,” might come up with something between an outright ban and a near-ban using clever marketing and educational programs to convince the public to cut back in favor of using permanent cloth bags.

The task force proposed by the councilors includes a member from the Surfrider Foundation, League of Conservation Voters, Lincoln County Solid Waste District, Lincoln County Solid Waste Haulers, Northwest Grocery Association, JC Market, Newport Farmer’s Market, Large Retailer (non-grocery), Small Retailer (non-grocery) and at least two members of the public.

The council Monday night is expected to give the task force an order that “it is their responsibility to identify approaches to reduce or eliminate the use of single-use plastic check-out bags and ways to measure the effectiveness of the program. This may include community outreach and education, local recycling efforts, a local ban either with, or without a charge/deposit on paper checkout bags, or a combination of these or other approaches.”

The task force will have until September 12th of this year to report back their findings to the city council as to which method to take to address the issue of plastic bags. The city of Portland has already banned plastic bags in a number of uses. The city of Corvallis is said to be close to a ban. Others are considering similar proposals.

Share on Facebook

Newport City Council: To ban, or not to ban, that’s sort of the question

Plastic Bags No Responses »

Jan 042012

Courtesy photo

Newport City Councilors Tuesday night decided to follow along with Council Dave Allen’s suggestion that the city council form a large task force to determine if a ban on or reduction in use of single use plastic bags should be adopted by the city of Newport.

Councilors acknowledged the environmental threat of the bags to wildlife on land and sea, as well as clogging up landfills, but decided they want a wide ranging group of “stakeholders” on the issue, to be allowed to weigh in on any proposed city position on the bags or methods of achieving either a ban or a forced reduction in their use.

The plastic bag task force will be made up of environmental groups, grocery stores, the farmers market, waste haulers, the fishing community, Chamber of Commerce, big retailers and little retailers and a generous representation by members of the public. All will get to chime in, but with direction from the council that they explore everything from no ban, to partial ban, to full ban. By next September the council would expect to see a set of recommendations on the subject.

Surfrider Foundation regional coordinator Charlie Plybon said when the task force is fully staffed he wants the council to give them very clear instructions on what the agenda is, to make it clear that the whole focus is to do something about single use plastic bags.

City Councilor David Allen said he will assist in tracking down members of all listed special interest groups to serve on the task force. Again, their recommendations won’t be due, officially, until September.

Share on Facebook

Older Entries