WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Hartford Selectboard’s crafting of a new regulatory policy for displaying banner on light posts is leaving a project aimed to honor military veterans in limbo.

Selectboard members said at a meeting last week that their support of a “Hometown Heroes” banner project, which would display up to 12 banners this summer in downtown White River Junction to recognize veterans or first responders from Hartford, will be conditional to a town policy that sets rules for the sizes and quantity of banners, and how long they may be on public display.

“From what I’ve heard from board members and our constituents, people want this project to happen (but) people want a reasonable time limit around (its duration),” board member Ida Griesemer said at last Tuesday’s meeting.

Organizers of the Hartford banners project seek to purchase and install the vinyl banners depicting photos and service information of town residents, who will be chosen by the project committee based on a review of applications submitted by families, said Dennis Brown, the project’s chairman.

Brown, who initially presented the plan to the Selectboard on March 19, said organizers wanted to display the banners from Memorial Day through Veterans Day. But because the Selectboard has not approved the project yet, the committee has not started its review of applications nor ordered the banners.

“The committee would like to have your blessing on this before we move forward,” Brown told the Selectboard. “We don’t want to have any surprises or any problems.”

It will take about six weeks to receive the banners once they are ordered, Brown said.

Some board members, as well as other residents, have voiced concerns about the project, either due to the banners’ visual appearance or their content.

Brandon Smith, who won election in March, wrote in a recent op-ed these banners could potentially be misused as recruitment tools for military service. Vice Chairwoman Kim Souza said at the March meeting that the banners, which are made of vinyl and mass-produced by national print-making companies, don’t match the aesthetics of White River Junction’s downtown.

Now a majority of board members have said they will vote in favor of the Hometown Heroes project once a town banner policy is finalized, Selectboard Chairman Michael Hoyt said on Tuesday. Even Smith said on Tuesday that he is willing to consider approving the Hometown Heroes banners, though not for the six months requested by the committee.

Since the proposal of the Hometown Heroes banners in March, other organizations, such as Junction Arts Media, have expressed an interest in hanging banners in town at some point, Hoyt said.

A draft of the proposed policy was modeled largely on similar policies in Hanover and Norwich, said Souza.

The drafted policy would require the Selectboard’s approval of proposed banner displays on up to 12 light poles in town for a maximum of 60 days. banners on up to 12 light poles in town for a maximum of 60 days. Applicants would need to submit an image of the proposed banner and a narrative explaining the purpose of the display.

The banners may not contain commercial or political advertisements, the policy states. In addition, the Selectboard would have the authority to refuse banners “which do not benefit the community at large.”

That denial option “is mainly there as a layer of protection, in case anyone comes forward with a proposal for confederate or Nazi insignia or other things that the board could consider inappropriate or not in the best interest of the town,” Souza said.

The board is still discussing the allowable duration of a banner display, as well as the permitted number of banners and a size restriction.

“It makes sense to put a time limit so that other groups have an opportunity to put displays up,” Hoyt said. “You can’t just say that they will be going up forever.”

While the project committee only intends to place 12 banners this year, that number could increase next year if there are interested applicants, Brown said.

“But these don’t all have to be concentrated in the downtown,” Brown said. “We chose to start it there because it’s our most traveled area of town and the hardware (to hang the banners) is already on the light posts.”

The banners will cost $105 apiece, plus an additional $70 for the hardware to attach them to the posts, said Brown. The committee plans to fund the materials this year using $2,000 that the Selectboard approved for the project in 2022. The committee will seek donations from local businesses to fund future banners.

Some supporters of the project questioned the Selectboard’s commitment to support the banners project, as well as the sudden necessity of a town policy.

“I feel like this policy is an excuse to try to stymie the Banner project,” said resident Susanne Abetti.

Several supporters said they worried that the Selectboard members could design the regulations to restrict or to deny projects based on personal preferences.

“I think the problem is that there’s not trust now because of the things that have been said,” said board member Susan Buckholz.

The Selectboard plans to finalize a banner policy at their next meeting on Tuesday, May 14, in Town Hall. The meeting time has not been announced.

If a policy is approved, the Hometown Heroes committee would then need to submit an application proposing their plan to the Selectboard, Hoyt said. The Selectboard could potentially approve the Hometown Heroes banners at their meeting on May 28.

Patrick Adrian may be reached at padrian@vnews.com or at 603-727-3216.