BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

CANTON  – The Canton Town and Village building committee will create a formal policy for requests to fly flags on the municipalities’ two jointly owned flagpoles following questions surrounding the display of the Pride flag.

The issue arose after the flag commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary was removed, though details on complaints were not shared at the meeting.

At a recent joint meeting Mayor Michael Dalton said he brought the issue to the attorney for review which returned some good ideas about how the process is handled in other communities.

During the discussion, officials said a review of a previous resolution found that it authorized the Pride flag to be flown on a specific date in a specific year. Officials said the municipal attorney researched how other communities handle flag requests, including policies adopted by municipalities such as Ticonderoga, the town of Danby and the city of Watertown.

The boards are now considering developing a formal flagpole policy to establish consistent guidelines for future requests.

 Officials said having a policy in place would provide a clear process for handling flag requests as they arise to ensure requests are handled in a uniform fashion.

“We need to decide what direction we are going to go with this,” Dalton said.

Although they didn't share what the complaints they received were,  Town Supervisor Jim Smith said that “things keep coming up and comments keep getting made.”

He said to address the problem, a policy should be made and followed.

“I think in order to resolve issues down the road it makes it simpler if there is a priority in place,” he said.

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