EASTHAMPTON — Nearly 24 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the city is forming a tribute committee to develop a permanent memorial to honor the lives of those who served that day — an idea that emerged from a recent debate about flying the American flag over Nashawannuck Pond.
City Councilor At-Large Koni Denham brought the idea for the 9/11 Tribute Committee to the council for consideration on July 9. The citywide committee, which the council agreed to form, will help develop a permanent tribute to honor those affected by the attacks on the twin towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the Flight 93 crash near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
“It’s an opportunity for the folks impacted by the tragedies on that date to be involved in this committee and help contribute to it,” said Denham.
The committee will be tasked to develop a memorial concept and oversee construction, open to design input and suggestions from the community. The tribute will be located on the property of the Easthampton Public Safety Complex, home to the police and fire department at 32 Payson Ave., with a specific place to be determined.
“I’m all in favor to honor anyone who served on that day, especially the people that lost their life dedicating themselves to their community and country,” said Easthampton Chief of Police Chad Alexander.
The committee will consist of seven voting members, including one appointed by the police chief; one appointed by the fire chief; one will be an Easthampton veteran agent or his or her designee; one member from the Planning Board; and three will represent the community at large, being appointed by the mayor with council approval for a one-year term. A chair person and clerk will be selected by the committee members. A decision will be made if the committee will stay in effect after the completion of the tribute.
“Councilor Denham’s vision for this committee is to get stakeholders from around the community to look at different ways, ideas and locations to recognize the events of 9/11,” Fire Chief Christopher Norris said. “A lot of public safety organizations across the country have memorials and monuments either at city hall or public safety departments and that would be the job of this committee.”
The committee will work in three phases. In the first phase, the panel will create a concept, find a location and present those to the mayor and council.
Phase two consists of designing and building. The committee will work with the city procurement officer to finalize a design, figure out the cost and funding options for the tribute and find a contractor.
Phase three consists of finalizing the project as the committee receives input from the community on the design and oversees construction.
“It’ll be interesting to see what comes of it and having a tribute to honor that day, that’ll be in the public safety building for years to come is special,” said Alexander.
The idea for the committee was sparked out of ongoing discussion that started in November last year about the American flag currently hanging over Nashawannuck.
The flag originally went up after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, though it was never formally dedicated to honor those who lost their life on that day. Since then, the flag has been put up after Memorial Day and taken down after Veterans Day each year.
Last winter, former Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle requested that the flag and cable be taken down. The mayor said that the flag was in violation of the United States Flag Code that governs how and when flags can be flown on government property, particularly because it is not illuminated at all times or “properly taken up and down.”
The flag code states, “It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flag staffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.”
Removal of the flag and its cable raised questions among the community and led to crowded public meetings about whether the flag would return.
In May, LaChapelle and the city attorney agreed to give the Nashawannuck Pond Committee responsibility over the installation of the flag and cable for this year only.
Originally, the flag was put up by a private group including former Easthampton Mayor Michael Tautznik. The pond committee asked the group to pass responsibility of the flag to them, and to help work with the city to find a solution to keep the flag over the pond.
The cable holding the flag was originally anchored on private property on one side of the pond, raising liability issues over private flag flying. The cable is now attached to a city-owned tree on both sides giving the city ownership and liability of the flag.
According to City Councilor Thomas Peake, the only city document providing guidance regarding flag-flying on government property is a June 2022 mayoral order. This document states that flags can be put up on city property with the approval of the mayor.
The council’s Property Committee is working to establish an ordinance to clarify rules and guidelines on when and where flags can be flown on city property, said Peake, who is a member of the committee. The group met in April seeking input from the public on what language should be included.
“We want to make it clear whose job it is to sign off on these things and what they need to worry about (when raising a flag) …,” he said about the ordinance in the works. “This is an issue a lot of municipalities are dealing with.”
The new 9/11 Tribute Committee will decide how and if to create the tribute in conjunction with the flag, according to Alexander.
“I don’t think any of the issues are insurmountable, they are just things that need to be talked through,” Peake said.
A meeting with members involved in 9/11 Tribute Committee will meet at Easthampton City Hall on Thursday at 5 p.m. to begin organizing the committee.
Sam Ferland can be reached sferland@gazettenet.com
