Meeting Time: May 04, 2023 at 7:00pm EDT

Agenda Item

IX. PUBLIC COMMENTS This is an opportunity for members of the public to address the Mayor and Aldermen regarding items that may or may not appear on the Agenda. Please note speakers should first give their name and address. You are reminded that these proceedings are broadcast on live TV and you should speak clearly. All comments are limited to a total of five minutes per individual. Comments can also be provided through the e-comments feature on the City website prior to the meeting.

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    Allen Etzler admin over 1 year ago

    This comment is being submitted on behalf of resident Janice Daffern, who experienced tech issues with e-comment, regarding the carryout bag ordinance: My name is Janice Daffern. I live at 134 West Church Street and I am writing in support of the hybrid ordinance on plastic bags. I have lived and worked within two blocks of City Hall for thirty years. And I shop in downtown Frederick. I know the city pretty well. As a decades long pastor I am committed to caring for the creation and view it as a moral obligation. As a longtime practicing psychotherapist, I know that people are capable of change and at times it is essential for our well being. I retired a year ago and have spent a lot of time walking around Frederick. Plastic bags (usefulness 12 minutes) are everywhere—Baker Park, in Carroll Creek, floating around playgrounds, and sports fields. Visually and esthetically they are a nuisance. But worse they damage the health of fish, domestic and wild animals and human beings. Plastic pollutes our air, soil and water.

    Please pass the hybrid ordinance including sensitivity to lower income shoppers as suggested by staff and a public education effort. The research suggests that not charging the extra small fee for some other single use bag doesn’t efficiently move the public to using re-usable bags. This approach fits Frederick. We are a young vibrant community and these issues count big time to our children and grandchildren.

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    Sonia Demiray over 1 year ago

    Good evening- My name is Sonia Demiray and I live in Petersville, Frederick County. I would like to add my voice in support of the Carry-Out Plastic Bag Ordinance for the City and the County. The reason is very simple: They have no benefit, but they do massive harm. Plastic bags are used an average of 15 minutes, with environmental consequences for centuries or millennia. Microplastics are already found in our bloodstreams, mother's milk, and there are an estimated 269,000 tons of plastic particles floating in the ocean, endangering marine life. Plastics are proven to affect the immune system and the reproductive system in wildlife, and by extension, probably us as well.
    Please ban plastic bags: we do not need them, we have lived without them for millenia, and they're killing us and the environment. Thank you.