Decorah City Council approves new policy on flag displays

The Decorah City Council has approved a revised policy on flag displays in downtown Decorah.

The policy removes four days from the list of days each year on which American flags are displayed on Water Street--Vietnam Veterans' Day on March 29th; Victory in Europe Day on May 8th; Nordic Fest in late July; and Victory over Japan Day on September 2nd.  Twelve days remain on the list of dates when the American flag will be flown.

The revised policy also covers requests by community organizations to fly special flags for their event, giving options which range from flying flags only on light posts with brackets on Water Street to flying flags on only one block of Water Street to flying two flags in front of City Hall.  City council members discussed charging the current special event application forms so that flag fees would be charged as a way to recoup some of the cost of staff time.

The changes in flag display policies are an attempt to reduce the amount of hours spent on the task--it takes two Street Department employees three to four hours to put up or take down flags.