By Roger Lanse

[Editor's Note: For additional information on this topic, please see http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/51311-lack-of-markets-for-recycled-waste-hits-home-town-council-to-discuss-changes-to-recycling-program-052819-6pm ]

Town Manager Alex Brown told the Silver City Town Council at its May 28, 2019 meeting that “the recycling markets have dwindled to nearly nothing. The only remaining markets are for metal and cardboard.” Cardboard used to sell for about $120 per ton, Brown said, "now we’re getting $60 per ton." Brown stated that now the town picks up the Single Stream containers and takes the recyclables to the recycling center where the cardboard is removed and the rest is baled and loaded onto a semi-truck and taken to El Paso. The El Paso facility is the last one that will take Single Stream.

According to Brown, the town was paying $28 per ton to the El Paso facility for the last few months to take our Single Stream recyclables. Before that, Brown said the town wasn't paying anything. “When the markets were good, we were actually getting paid for the recyclables. But, as of last week we were advised that they (the El Paso facility) will start charging us $45 per ton to accept the recyclables.” Currently, the town pays $48 per ton to the local landfill.

Brown continued by saying considering the $177 per ton total cost involved in the collection, transportation, processing of the material, plus the additional fee to the El Paso recycler for accepting it, totaling some $211,000 per year, makes it fiscally irresponsible to continue shipping recyclables to El Paso as the town has been doing. Besides, Brown stated, this method only pretends to recycle materials, as only cardboard and some metal are recycled – the rest goes into the El Paso landfill.

“Continuing the program as we have right now is going to be unmanageable. If we want to continue what we’re doing right now we will have to raise rates substantially,” Brown said. He recommended re-jobbing all the roll-off bulk containers like the one in front of the Grant County Administration Building to accept only cardboard and use the individual small Single Stream containers at residences for trash as are the larger home-owned containers. In other words, all waste material, except cardboard and some metal, would be considered trash and picked up at individual residences and taken to the landfill. Only cardboard and some metal would be recycled, at a much reduced cost of $16,000 per year, according to Brown.

Brown stated that the Las Cruces landfill is almost all recyclables now.

Council made no decisions regarding the recycling program as this was a time of discussion and offering ideas.

Council approved an ordinance amending the official zoning map to change the zoning of approximately 20 parcels of land in the Boston Hill area from a rural district to open space district. The open space designation would emphasize protection and preservation and the recreational values of the parcels.

Mayor Ken Ladner proclaimed June 12-15, 2019 as “First New Mexico Bank Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo week.” Tyler Brown of the Southwest Horseman’s Association and the Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo accepted the proclamation.

District 3 Councilor Jose Ray Jr. advised that he may, at the next council meeting, bring back the issue of permitting side-by-sides on city streets.

District 2 Councilor Lynda Aiman-Smith announced that a District 2 Territorial Charter volunteer work day is set for July 13 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The project will take place behind the historic Water Works building on Little Walnut Road.

Council approved a waiver for alcohol sales near a church for a restaurant beer and wine liquor license with on-premises consumption only with Sunday sales by the drink and patio service. Name of applicant: Leah Allen, LLC, DBA Adobe Springs Café. Proposed location: 614 N. Bullard Street. Town Clerk Ann Mackie produced a letter from the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd stating they had no objection to the serving of alcohol within 300 feet of their church.

Council also approved a notice of intent amending the Code of Ordinances with respect to the keeping of bees within the town. As an NOI, the measure can be found on the town’s website, and is open for comment by residents.

Brown recommended the only bid to be received for a Community Development Block Grant project in Chihuahua Hills was from Southwest Concrete and Paving of Silver City. The bid was $715, 714 plus $67, 097 GRT. A CDBG grant of $740,000 has been approved. Council approved the bid.

Council approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a certification of support for the accreditation of the Silver City Museum.

Ladner reappointed Steven Shelindich and Susanne Gershenon to the Historic Design Review Committee.

District 1 Councilor Cynthia Bettison sponsored a notice of intent to amend sections of the town’s municipal code concerning aggressive begging and prohibited solicitations upon town streets and public rights-of-way. Town Attorney Robert Scavron spoke to this NOI saying, “In 2010 there was a build-up that culminated in an ordinance. Aggressive begging was becoming a problem in the town. The prior laws talked about panhandling, and panhandling and was held to be an expression of freedom of speech. So, we revised back in 2010 most of our laws that prohibited panhandling on the streets. Some years prior to that there were laws about homelessness and vagrancy, with a finding on being homeless or being vagrant being also an expression of the freedom of speech.

“So, there’s been an evolution starting way back, more so in the late '90s to this date, where behaviors that were annoying to the public have been held to be the right of the expressor of the behavior and were considered to be freedom of speech which couldn’t be impinged on by government. Well, that trend has continued from 2010 to now. About a year or two after this ordinance was passed, law started changing in the circuits, the federal circuits, leading to Supreme Court cases and New Mexico state cases. So, what this NOI ordinance is doing is eliminating the stress on begging, aggressive panhandling, solicitation to conform with the new law, with the trend of the law.

“So, for instance, in our previous ordinance, it said that people couldn’t ask for or solicit money or anything else within a certain number of feet from a drive-in bank teller’s window or a check cashing location.” Regarding people entering on private property, Scavron continued, “The courts have said, ‘Leave it to the private property owners to determine who enters, who comes on my property and solicits.’ The government has gone too far in dictating behavior on private property. Secondly, they said you’re targeting people with signs at intersections, you’re targeting people expressing their freedom of speech, and that’s more important than your public safety concerns.

“So, with the language here that talks about roadway, pedestrian and driver protection, not solicitation. Not prohibited solicitations. It talks about any behavior that would tend to distract the driver, to interfere with a pedestrian or interfere with a bicyclist. So those are the main changes. The aggressive manner, it used to be aggressive manner was related to how you’re expressing your speech. Now, aggressive manner is basically intentionally or recklessly making physical contact. Well, that’s an assault. Well, why don’t we just enforce this under the assault law, rather than making it attached to somebody assaulting you while they are trying to speak to you? A lot of regulation, a lot of law, is an attempt to educate. People are going to break the law, but most people want to know what the law is so they can conform to it.

“So, if you’re soliciting on the street, that’s okay, that’s legal. If someone says ‘No,’ and you get in their face and try to intimidate them or touch them that’s an assault. So, the people that are doing the soliciting, need to know that they don’t have a blank check. That in the process of their solicitation they can’t touch or intimidate somebody.”

Scavron said the city will no longer protect private property from peddlers and solicitors; It’s up to the property owner. The balance of the law has shifted in favor of those wishing to enter at any time, Scavron said. If a property owner doesn’t wish to have peddlers and solicitors enter the property, he/she needs to post a sign or tell the entrant to leave. If they don’t leave immediately it’s a crime and one can call the police, he stated.

Scavron ended by saying that it seems that the expression of anything is considered free speech and trumps safety concerns.

Council approved two agreements, one with the Fraternal Order of Police – Silver City Police Officers Association and another with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, regarding collective bargaining.

The preliminary budget for fiscal year 2019-2020 was approved.

Council ended this meeting by going into closed session for the discussion of the purchase, acquisition, or disposal of real property or water rights.