Bottled water legal again in Concord, Mass.

Remember that Town Meeting in Concord, Mass., where citizens voted to ban bottled water? It turns out residents didn't have the authority to make that decision, so bottled water sales are legal again in Concord. That's the story from the Concord Patch website. Betsy Levinson posted a story there today, "Selectmen Advance Bottle Dilemma: Board agrees on a strategy to cut down on plastic containers." According to Levinson's story, after the Town Meeting passed the article -- which would have banned the sale of plastic water bottles beginning Jan. 1 -- it went to the state attorney general. The state AG declined to approve the article, saying it was not enforceable -- there was no civil or criminal consequence of violating the rule. That left Concord's town selectmen in a pickle. Should they pass a law that they could enforce? Or just let the matter drop? Chairman Jeff Wieand seemed to just want the issue to go away. "Most people are not willing to ban the sale of plastic water bottles," Wieand said, according to the story. He suggested taking no action. "We don't do anything; we haven't admitted defeat," he said. "But there would be nothing for the media to talk about. ... The best outcome would be if the issue didn't come up again." In the end, the selectmen decided to develop a strategy to voluntarily use fewer plastic bottles. Meanwhile, Virginia also took a similar step today, when Gov. Bob McDonnell reversed a directive that banned state agencies and institutions from buying single-serve plastic water bottles. One group charged that McDonnell made the move at the request of a major water bottler in Virginia. But The Washington Post's Virginia Politics blog seems to think that charge is all wet, pointing out that the company in question mostly sells water in 5-gallon containers.