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Residents press council on single-use plastic bag ban, noise and board governance
Summary
Public commenters urged the council to finish work on a single-use plastic bag ban and asked for enforcement and governance fixes for local boards; residents also raised neighborhood concerns about noise, lighting and truck traffic.
Several residents used the public-comment period at the March 2 meeting to press the council on environmental policy, code enforcement and board governance.
Barb McKinnon (323 59th Avenue North) urged the council to complete the phased plan to reduce nonbiodegradable single-use plastics, starting with single-use plastic bags. She recalled earlier action dating to 2019 and a committee that reached a consensus in August 2024 and asked the council and administration to reconvene the ad hoc committee and bring a recommendation for second reading soon. “So I guess what I'm asking is that you ask administration to finalize the committee work and bring a recommendation to council for 2nd reading,” McKinnon said, and she suggested a target of February 2027 to achieve a city free of single-use disposable plastic bags.
Interim City Manager Ryan Fabri told McKinnon staff will reconvene the ad hoc committee, revisit the prior consensus and prepare a recommendation for council. “We can reconvene that, kinda just revisit our consensus, make sure that our recommendation is still what everyone agrees to, and then we'll bring it back to council,” Fabri said.
Christopher Cochran of Cherry Grove raised multiple neighborhood complaints, including alleged unpermitted improvements and excessive noise at the Bull and O Shell gas station, ongoing debris removal practices, lighting that may violate code, noise from an outdoor bar, and large trucks using Duffy as a bypass route. Council said staff and the police chief had been notified and would investigate.
Resident Jolene Puffer asked the city to review and reorganize the Board of Zoning Appeals, saying appointments appeared to have been handled incorrectly, term limits were unclear, and conflicts of interest have led to frequent recusals that reduce the board's voting membership. She urged the council to review appointments for compliance with ordinance and state law, establish term limits, and reconstitute the board if necessary. The mayor and staff said they are looking into the concerns and will meet with residents and staff to assess and correct any problems.
Next steps: city staff said they will reconvene the plastic-bag ad hoc committee and will investigate the neighborhood code-enforcement and Board of Zoning Appeals appointment issues; council asked for follow-up reports.
