Council considers single-use container ban
San Marcos City Council discussed the possibility of the establishment of a single-use container ban in all riverfront parks at the regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday. The discussion focused on the specifics of what that could look like for the city, what ways the rules could be equitable and unique to San Marcos and possible procedures for enforcement as well as the suggestion of a strategic partnership with Texas State University to enforce the ban in Sewell Park.
The meeting was a chance for council to give direction to the Parks and Recreation Board in order for them to draft an ordinance that met council’s expectations and was equitable for the public as well as realistic. As written in the meeting agenda, the current ordinance was listed as recommending a single use container ban in addition to a cooler size limitation per person within the city’s riverfront park systems.
The board recommended that a specific enforcement plan be put in place and that a funding source be identified prior to adoption of the restrictions.
San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson said she wanted to get the ball rolling, so that the single-use container ban could be in place by summer.
San Marcos City Manager Stephanie Reyes said this ordinance would need to be written as a collaborative effort between the city staff– to write the ordinance within state and federal guidelines, the council– to give direction on their expectations, and the Marshal's Office–to understand the resources needed to enforce it.
City Council Member Jude Prather said he would like the specific rules in the can-ban to mirror those of New Braunfels.
“For a variety of reasons, the main one being a uniformity of rules within the region,” Prather said, adding that the key to this is to allocate funds in the budget for enforcement.
San Marcos City Council Member Shane Scott said that the ordinance technically doesn’t comply with the laws of the state; a thing that would make enforcement difficult, particularly if people are allowed to have single-use containers in the river but not on the banks—the city’s jurisdiction.
He said he wondered if the endangered species in the rivers and springs could be levied in order to find a federal funding source and to ensure enforcement of a can ban in the water as well.
Scott pointed out that signage would be a useful resource to teach the public about the new ordinance–another endeavor requiring funds.
City Council Member Matthew Mendoza said he agreed with the council members on the points being made and was “fully on board.”
He stressed that finding a funding source should be the initial priority–then the focus could shift to the other factors involved in creating the ordinance.
“I think we need to somehow charge the city residents that are causing damage to the river,” Mendoza said. “I’m so grateful my colleagues are on board with this as well as the parks board.”
Mendoza requested someone at staff arrange a meeting with Texas State University in order to get them to establish the same single-use container ban as the city in Sewell Park, which is upstream from all of the city riverfront parks but owned by the university.
Reyes said that they could discuss it with them but the university is a state entity, which is under state rules, and the can-ban would technically be a preemption of state laws.
“I just need to see how willing they would be to formalize something and put it in an agreement,” Reyes said.
City Council Member Alyssa Garza said she wanted to ensure that the specific rules of the ordinance were equitable for and considerate of large, multi-generational working class families’ access to inexpensive entertainment. She pointed out that the removal of charcoal grills and the restrictions against grilling in riverfront parks was already a loss to working class families because it was a popular and inexpensive entertainment option. She said that larger, multi-generational families feel a cooler size limit is not considerate of them either. Garza said the perspective would likely be different if there were more inexpensive family activities available in the city.
She said while the environmental concerns are valid, the public would need to understand the environmental considerations behind a single-use container ban in order to assuage the other concerns and garner local support.
“There are substantial amounts of neighbors who feel they are not being considered in the conversation,” Garza said. “I guess my recommendation is that the Equity Coordinator be in those conversations to ensure that those valid concerns are heard and to provide recommendations on how to balance out getting them the information, hearing them and securing that buyin.”
Scott said he wouldn’t support the ban of larger coolers because he had heard the same concern from local families but was curious what could be done about vapes, which are causing major litter and toxin problems for the river.
San Marcos Director of Parks and Recreation Jamie Lee Case said the majority of the trash in the river does not come from food related items but is beverage-related trash.
“It’s the tiny Capri Sun straw wrappers. It’s plastic bottles. It is cans,” Case said. “The committee recommended to the board to just do the beverage [single-use container ban].”
Hughson pointed out that only addressing beverage containers would still require the city to fund river cleanups due to the trash from other items.
The discussion of the single-use container ban at the meeting Tuesday was just that.
No action was taken by the council.
City staff will now draft the ordinance and action will be taken at a later date.
