Town meeting expected to be Nov. 23 on proposed 9/11 memorial

Written by Brad Durrell
Thursday, 05 November 2009 23:11

The Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted Thursday night to hold a town meeting on where to place the proposed 9/11 memorial on Monday, Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. at Samual Staples Elementary School.

There is a possibility the BOS could change the date to Thursday, Nov. 19 because a Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) regular meeting is scheduled for Nov. 23, but that decision has not been made yet. The P&Z is likely to make a presentation at the town meeting on the proposed 9/11 memorial.

The unanimous BOS vote Thursday took place after members of the 9/11 Memorial Committee presented a petition signed by almost 1,000 Easton residents requesting the town meeting. If such a petition is presented to the BOS, and signed by 50 town residents who are registered voters in Easton, a town meeting must be set within 21 days.

At the town meeting, residents will be asked if they support putting the proposed memorial on the library green, and if they support overturning the P&Z'’s negative recommendation against that site.

The P&Z favors putting the memorial on the library’s north lawn, near the entrance to the community room, while the 9/11 Memorial Committee wants to place the memorial on the green directly in front of the library.

At the BOS meeting, 9/11 Memorial Committee members said they couldn’t go along with a compromise that would allow a flagpole, plaque and three non-permanent benches to be placed on the green. That compromise also would have involved changing the name of the library green to the 9/11 Memorial Green.

Committee members said they preferred to see the memorial as designed — which includes a pergola, small stonewalls and a small garden as well as a flagpole, plaque and benches — put on the green. And they emphasized it was now time, through a town meeting, to find out if town residents supported that idea.

Memorial committee members collected the petition signatures on Election Day outside Samuel Staples Elementary School. They had set up a tent with renderings of the proposed memorial so they could educate and interact with voters.

Committee members said people were eager to sign the committee’s petitions, with many of them expressing frustration that the 9/11 memorial in Easton hadn’t been built yet.

A 9/11 memorial would have special significance in Easton because Peter Hanson, who grew up in town, and his wife and young child died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The BOS will meet this Thursday, Nov. 12, to finalize the date of the town meeting. Members of the 9/11 Memorial Committee also will make a presentation at the town meeting.

After the presentations and debate at the town meeting, voters will decide whether to overrule the P&Z's objections to putting the memorial on the town green because, according to a majority of P&Z members, the town master plan envisions keeping the library free of permanent structures.