In a 5-0 vote at its meeting on Monday night, Sept. 9, the Barrington Town Council called for the creation of an ad hoc veterans committee that will oversee a variety of tasks associated with veterans affairs. 

For decades, the Barrington United Veterans Council handled all sorts of veterans-related duties for the town, including organization of the Barrington Memorial Day Parade, maintenance of veterans monuments in town, and processing veterans tax exemptions. 

But in March, all the BUVC members resigned, protesting the town’s flying of certain flags above the veterans memorial outside Barrington Town Hall. In a letter to the town, BUVC members wrote “We can no longer serve in good faith a local government that harbors such hostility and animosity towards its Veterans and its families.”

Since March, members of the Barrington Town Council have been discussing how to move forward without the BUVC. 

And at their meeting on Monday, Sept. 9, Council members weighed three possible options: 1. Create a new veterans committee; 2. Assign the BUVC’s duties to an existing town employee or hire a new employee to handle those chores; or 3. Reach out to other veterans in town or veterans organizations in the state and try to reach an agreement with them. 

During the meeting, Barrington Town Council President Carl Kustell said the town needed some substitute or alternative for the BUVC. 

Councilor Annelise Conway said she supported Option 1, and added that some veterans have already reached out. Conway said she supports a broader voice from the community in regards to veterans issues. 

Council member Rob Humm said he leaned toward Option 1 also. He added that he would be curious what local veterans think about the idea. 

A short time later, Conway made a motion to direct the solicitor to create the ad hoc veterans committee. No one from the audience asked to speak during the public comment portion of the discussion, and the motion passed unanimously. 

The new committee will be subject to the Open Meetings Act and Access to Public Records Act. 

Coincidentally, on the same night that the Council approved the creation of a new veterans committee, it also moved forward with a plan to construct a new installation of three flagpoles at the Town Hall property close to County Road. The new flagpole installation will allow the town to cease flying any outreach flags atop the flagpole inside the veterans memorial.