County supervisors hear arguments for and against law at public hearing
It was standing room only at the Madison County Board of Supervisors meeting on May 9, as citizens, entrepreneurs and lobbyists took advantage of a public hearing to support or oppose a proposed new law to ban all plastic carryout bags in Madison County. The supervisors got an earful on both sides of the issue from dozens of speakers, after which the board left the public hearing open and will continue to consider the issue for the next 60 days.
“Plastic bags are a problem, and they need to be dealt with,” said county board Chair John Becker. He said there needs to be a “productive discussion” of “how to change the culture of who we are” in terms of seeking the cheapness and convenience of plastic grocery bags while also being conscious to preserve and protect our environment.
The proposed law, entitled “carryout bag reduction,” introduced by Town of Lebanon Supervisor James Goldstein, seeks to protect the environment, reduce pollution, control litter and improve the aesthetics of the county by eliminating the single-use plastic carryout bag from certain retail stores.
According to the legislation, the ban would affect “certain covered wholesale and retail stores that sell personal, consumer or household items including grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, hardware stores, food marts, pharmacies, apparel stores, home centers, stationary and office supply stores.” Certain sellers such as food service establishments and liquor stores would be exempt from the ban.
After showing a brief video depicting baby animals trapped or dead in plastic bags, plastic bags floating as waste in oceans and blowing as trash on the ground, accompanied by dire statistics of the toxic impact and slow degradation of plastic bags in landfills, the board opened the public hearing.
Thirty citizens from towns across the county signed up to speak, as did environmental advocates, small business owners and grocery industry lobbyists.
Representatives from Tops, Price Chopper, the Food Industry Alliance and the New York Association of Convenience Stores all said they applaud the county’s effort to reduce waste and protect the environment through the proposed law, but all opposed the law as unfair, burdensome and not cost effective. They and others said plastic bags cost businesses one cent per bag, while paper costs five cents per bag — to change from plastic to paper bags would necessitate that stores either charge consumers for bags or raise the price of groceries.
Michael Rosen of the Food Industry Alliance asked the board to remove the exemption clause from the law and put all stores on a “level playing field,” and suggested that instead of a ban the law be a “fee bill” in which consumers would pay five cents for each paper or plastic bag they would use at a store. Michael Biehler of Tops agreed that a fee-based law is a better solution.
Alex Mirabito, owner of Mirabito Convenience Stores — of which four of their 104 stores are in Madison County — said there are ways other than a ban to achieve the county’s goals. “It is because of laws like this that stifle businesses and hurt the economy” that people and businesses are leaving New York state in droves, he said.
Colin Valenta, owner of Doherty Pharmacy, which has locations in Morrisville and Hamilton, said the cost increase to businesses is not just that paper costs more than plastic, it is also heavier and increases shipping costs, it takes up more space and will increase storage costs and needs to be shelved more often and will increase labor costs. “This is also bad for consumers — the consumers will ultimately pay for this,” he said.
One woman from Canastota, identified only as Joan, who is a military veteran, said America is about freedom and she does not want government making choices for her. “People have the right to choose,” she said.
On the other side of the issue, Hannah Ring, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment in Syracuse, said the proposed law was good but did not go far enough. She said a paper bag fee should be included in the bill because paper bags are bad for the environment as well. She said Madison County should use this bill to set an example for other counties and the state as a whole to follow.
Martha Moore, of Nelson, agree with Ring, and said if Madison County took the lead to protect the environment with this bill it would bring more residents to the county.
Gaelen McKillip, of Syracuse, said a fee on both plastic and paper bags was a “band-aid on a bloody stump.” He said that businesses losing money or closing due to a bag ban “is just not going to happen.” He said people who oppose the plastic bag ban do so out of “pride” and “malice” — they refuse to change their minds even after being told a ban is correct — and that to support the ban is just “intelligent.”
Board members Bill Zupan, supervisor of Cazenovia, Roger Bradstreet, supervisor of Nelson, and Dave Jones, supervisor of Fenner, all said after the public hearing that the comments were interesting and they have not decided whether to support or oppose the law at this time.
“It was good meeting, a lot of good comments, and I really don’t know which way to vote on it,” Zupan said. “I need more public input before I decide.”
The County Board of Supervisors’ next meeting is Tuesday, June 13, during which the proposed bill is expected to be discussed again and there will be another public hearing.
Comments on the proposed law are currently being accepted by email at [email protected].
