By Roger Lanse

A Walmart employee came before the Silver City Town Council at its October 13 meeting to express concern that the increased cost of reuseable bags to local stores, in particular Walmart, not only affects the price customers pay for goods, but could also affect the paychecks of employees, as the store seeks to keep prices low and competitive. The employee stated that in order to keep usage of reuseable bags low, to save the store money, bags are often filled to the 22-pound limit which may be too heavy for some customers.

The employee stated that Walmart refuses to assess a fee to cover the increased cost of the reuseable bags so its costs can remain competitive. The suggestion was made by the employee to have the town assess a fee for all stores using the reuseable bags to cover the cost of the bags, leveling the playing field, and reducing the danger of cuts in pay.

Terry Timme of Silver City's Office of Sustainability, stated that it's up to the individual store whether to charge a fee or not. He said that Santa Fe has started to charge a fee to cover the increased cost of the reuseable bags.

Several people spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting in support of the reuseable bags, citing cleaner neighborhoods since the ordinance went into effect Jan. 8, 2015.

District 1 Councilor Cynthia Bettison said, “I know that that change is hard. I know that people still don't like to put seatbelts on, even though that's been around for a really long time. We are moving forward. I know it takes time.”

Timme said that the main reason for the plastic bag ordinance was litter reduction. He said as many as 7,400 light-weight canvas bags have been ordered and distributed - some door-to-door and some at events. These same light canvas bags can be picked up by residents at the town's Office of Sustainability across the street from Gough Park.

Town Manager Alex Brown said, and was confirmed by Mayor Michael Morones, that the state was going to require the town to make significant improvements to the landfill because of the lightweight plastic bags that were flying around in the wind and difficult to control. Those improvements would have cost the town $180,000. Because of the ordinance limiting plastic bag use to the heavier reuseable ones, no additional improvements to the landfill are required, resulting in significant savings.

Timme said that people are adapting to the new plastic bag ordinance, and it is not a big enforcement issue.

Morones stated that as far as problems with the new ordinance, he had expectations that there would be far more problems than have been encountered.

Bettison related how the New Mexico Department of Taxation and Revenue is proposing to take all the gross receipts taxes collected in the state and put them in one account and redistribute them to each of the state's municipalities based on per capita or population. She said that the New Mexico Municipal League, in which Silver City is represented by Bettison, is opposed to that idea. She said smaller communities like Silver City would lose out as they collect more GRT but would receive less based on its population under the NMDTR plan.

In new business, council approved a public celebration permit application for An Uncommonly Good Evening event sponsored by The Volunteer Center from 4-8 p.m. at ‘The Commons' at 501 E. 13th Street. The license holder for the event is Little Toad Creek Brewery.

Council also approved a notice of intent ordinance, which would alter certain sections of Silver City's Code of Ordinances to agree with state requirements enabling the town to apply for part of a $50 million statewide pot of money for local economic development. The funds would be used to provide economic incentives to local businesses for increasing local economic development.

District 4 Councilor Guadalupe Cano advised that she will be having significant surgery on Friday, Oct. 16, and will be unavailable for events for 2-4 weeks, but will be available by phone.

Carmon L. Steven was re-appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission.