The Freeport Ordinance Committee will continue its work Thursday night to formulate language for a non-binding referendum that would impose a 5-cent fee on the sale of single-use plastic and paper bags. The committee favors a June vote, which is subject to Town Council approval.

The Ordinance Committee, a three-member Town Council subcommittee, will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Hall. Chairwoman Sarah Tracy has drafted language for the advisory referendum. The full council would then vote on the longstanding issue.

With environmental interests in mind, Meredith Broderick and Elly Bengtsson, who were Freeport High School seniors at the time, proposed a ban on plastic bags two years ago. Town officials have modified that proposal so that it now calls for a fee – not a ban – on both plastic and paper.

Tracy said that she is borrowing elements from Portland’s ordinance, which does not apply to businesses whose food sales are “incidental,” or less than 3 percent. Earlier this month, the Falmouth Town Council passed an ordinance calling for a 5-cent fee on paper and plastic carry-out bags at six large stores in town.

“We decided that we would take Portland’s structure, but we may take other language from Falmouth, which is clearer,” she said. “It is not an ordinance that we will adopt Thursday night. It is just a starting point. At some point we will have a public hearing on the language itself.”

Tracy said that the Town Council will take action on single-use bags fee following the non-binding referendum.

“That vote would be significantly influenced by the nonbinding vote,” she said.

Meanwhile, a group of Freeport residents, including Josh Olins, chairman of the Recycling/Solid Waste Committee, has discussed circulating a petition that would prompt a binding vote on the bags issue. Town Manager Peter Joseph said last Thursday that he knows of no one who has started such a petition.

On a different front, there is also the possibility that the council could take another vote, given that new member Lee Arris favors a ban on plastic and paper shopping bags. The Town Council vote in October was 4-2 in favor of the advisory vote, but Councilor Kristina Egan was absent, and would have voted in the minority. A new vote with Arris replacing Andy Wellen on the council could reverse the decision to go to referendum, and place the matter squarely in the council’s hands.

“The Town Council has not decided to take it back up,” said Tracy, who voted with the majority. “If it does take the issue back up, there is nothing preventing the council from making a different decision. From my perspective, it could set a bad precedent. There’s value in continuity.”

Joseph said he has heard of the possibility of a petition drive and a new Town Council vote, but that’s as far as it goes for now.

“There has been no action on either of those,” he said. “Until they do something, there’s only one proposal on the table, which is the Ordinance Committee work.”

No sooner than the Ordinance Committee completes its work on a bags fee, it will deal with another issue that has been discussed for a year or so. – a shellfish aquaculture permitting proposal, which would create town-leased clam flats to individuals. The committee will discuss a five-year pilot program, put forth by the Shellfish Conservation Commission, on Feb. 25, at 5:30 p.m.. The committee plans to hold a public hearing later.

The Shellfish Conservation Commission’s shellfish ordinance amendment would allow any holder of a Freeport commercial shellfish license to apply for a municipal aquaculture permit in a designated area. The permit would be for five years or less, and subject to renewal for subsequent five-year terms.

The total number of acres leased under the municipal aquaculture plan would not exceed one-quarter of the entire municipal intertidal zone that is open to the taking of shellfish.

Some clammers object to the ordinance amendment because it would take away public use of the clam flats.

There is also the question of whether the town can lease the flats without permission from the riparian land owner. Town attorney Phillip Saucier has said that could put the brakes on by statute, as the Department of Marine Resources requires permission from the riparian land owner before granting an aquaculture lease under the state’s authority.

Tracy said that the Ordinance Committee will confer with Saucier again, prior to the Feb. 25 meeting.

“We also have to get feedback from the Department of Marine Resources,” she said. “There is significant landowner interest.”

For that reason, the town has added a page on its website dedicated to the proposal, where updates will be posted. The public can access that page directly at http://www.freeportmaine.com/page.php?page_id=310. This page will also be accessible from the website’s homepage for the foreseeable future.

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