Saggy pants banned by Vidalia aldermen
Published 12:05 am Wednesday, October 9, 2013
NATCHEZ — Some Vidalia residents may now be faced with a choice — is saving the cost of a new belt worth the potential risk of a citation?
The Vidalia Board of Aldermen adopted Tuesday an amendment to its indecent exposure ordinance that now bans saggy pants. Violators face a potential $150 fine.
The amendment to the ordinance was introduced last month when Mayor Hyram Copeland said city officials had received complaints from residents and out-of-towners about individuals walking around town with pants “pulled lower than they should be.”
A public hearing about the amendment was opened before it was adopted, but no member of the public spoke in favor of or against the measure.
When the ordinance was introduced in September, City Attorney Jack McLemore said similar measures have been adopted by seven other cities in Louisiana, and every time such measures have faced constitutional challenges they have been upheld.
The vote passed 4-0. Alderman Triand “Tron” McCoy and Copeland were not present at the meeting.
Also during the meeting, Patricia Anderson with the former Concordia Parish Recycling program presented the city with a $5,500 check to help with the newly launched recycling program.
Concordia Parish Recycling started in 1995, selling shredded paper to a recycling center, but became more or less inactive after the buyers of paper were no longer available.
The money from the paper sales sat in a bank account for years, and Anderson said the board members of Concordia Parish Recycling were happy to hand it over to Vidalia to facilitate the city’s new recycling program.
Alderman Ricky Knapp said the initial recycling collection for the city’s pilot program last week gathered slightly more than a ton of recyclable material.
“We are hoping to get a little more than that this week,” Knapp said.
Those who want to sign up for the recycling program can do so by calling City Hall at 318-336-5206 or online at misslourecycles.com.
“We will provide you with the blue recycling bin free of charge,” Knapp said. “All we ask is that you roll that to the curb every Tuesday night or Wednesday morning for pickup.”