Pecos City Council votes to ban plastic bags
The Pecos City Council voted on and passed the first reading of an ordinance that will ban companies and residents from using single-use plastic bags in the town.
The decision was met with little resistance from anyone, especially since costs of the new bags will be passed on to the citizens of Pecos.
“The single-use bags are economical for the business owner and cost about 2 cents to buy,” Pecos Mayor Venetta Seals said. “We’re going to require biodegradable and multi-use bags and it’s going to cost the owner up to 40 cents; something that’s going to be passed on to the consumer.”
The first reading of the ordinance was passed during the council’s Jan. 26 meeting and the second reading will be voted on during the scheduled Feb. 9 meeting. Seals said members of the public could still voice concerns over the ordinance at the meeting. Businesses six months to use up their single-use plastic bags and switch over to new bags or use paper bags. A fine of $500 would be issued to those found breaking the ordinance.
The idea was first brought up by city administrators in an attempt to help reduce the amount of debris — notably plastic bags — around the town and the roads leading in and out of the city limits.
Meeting with businesses around the area, Seals said the managers and owners of the stores agreed to the idea of switching bags and acknowledged increased prices would be passed on to the residents.
“The plastic bags stick on everything in West Texas, including mesquite,” Seals said. “And who wants to pick a bag off of mesquite?”
Seals said the city also got their idea from Fort Stockton when they started their own ordinance regarding plastic bags last year.
Raul Rodriguez, city manager for Fort Stockton, said their ordinance went into effect Sept. 1, but business owners had been aware of the new law since February when the “Keep Fort Stockton Beautiful” campaign asked for a six month extension of educate the public.
“By the time we passed it, the majority of the businesses were in compliance,” Rodriguez said.
The response from the businesses has been positive, Rodriguez said, and any stores found not in compliance have been more than willing to change their bags.
“If something comes up, we address it and there’s no issue,” he said.
