PORT TOWNSEND — The City Council has approved the purchase of 10,000 resuable shopping bags to be distributed throughout the community.
Half of the bags will be given out for free to residents, while distribution of the other half is still in the planning stages.
Distribution will be timed with a citywide ban of single-use plastic shopping bags in groceries and other stores that goes into effect Nov. 1.
The ban that the council unanimously approved in July is the only such law to be approved on the North Olympic Peninsula.
With the action, Port Townsend became the sixth Washington city to pass a similar ordinance, after Bainbridge Island, Bellingham, Edmonds, Issaquah, Mukilteo and Seattle.
On Tuesday, six council members — Mayor David King, Mark Welch, Catharine Robinson, Deborah Stinson, Bob Gray and Michelle Sandoval — voted in favor of buying the reusable bags, while Councilwoman Kris Nelson was opposed.
Nelson did not give a reason for her opposition.
Of the 10,000 bags, 5,000 will be available for residents — possibly delivered door-to-door and perhaps available at City Hall and other areas — while distribution for the remainder will be determined by the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and the Port Townsend Main Street Program.
“We haven’t developed a plan, but we are looking to get them into local stores and have them be a point of contact for people to get the bags,” said Main Street Executive Director Mari Mullen.
The cost of the bags will be approximately $10,700 and will be paid for through an interfund loan.
The purchase money will be taken from the general fund and reimbursed from a yet-to-be-determined source.
One proposal was to get the funds from trash-collection fees, but it was criticized by King, who said, “I don’t think we want to raise fees in one place to pay for this.”
Another proposal is to use the lodging tax fund.
The council instructed City Attorney John Watts to find out whether the fund can be used for this purpose.
The city has three years to determine the source of the funds.
The vendor for the bags has not yet been chosen, but the selection will begin immediately, City Clerk Pam Kolacy said.
The bags will be made of polypropylene, a decision that was called into
question by Rosemary
Sikes during the public comment period.
“I don’t see how replacing one plastic bag with another is a good idea,” Sikes said.
Welch, who researched the bag options as a member of the Special Projects Committee, said polypropylene bags last many years and are less susceptible to germs than cloth bags.
“I use cloth bags and wash them with no problem,” Robinson said.
“We can buy these bags now, but I’d like to see us use something other than polypropylene in the long run.”
Sandoval said the bags should be purchased and the financing details should be worked out later as the city has time to do so.
“We are close to the deadline for this,” she said.
“If it’s not done in time, then we’ll have egg on our faces because we’ve been working on this for some time.”
Under the new law, bags for produce, newspapers and dry cleaning will be allowed — and merchants can use up the plastic-bag supply they have on hand, even if it is after the law’s effective date.
Banned bags are single-use plastic bags with handles that are thinner than 2.25 mils. A mil is 1/1,000th of an inch.
Stores instead will provide standard-sized paper shopping bags, with or without handles, with each store required to assess a 5-cent-per-bag “pass through charge” to the customer.
Stores won’t be allowed to provide free standard-sized paper shopping bags, though paper bags of other sizes are not affected by the rule.
The banned plastic bags, if brought by customers, can be considered reusable bags.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
