Saugus no place to fly banners

SAUGUS – The Board of Selectmen agreed Tuesday to let two organizations fly banners across the roadways, but unfortunately they have no place to hang them.Banners are typically strung across Main Street or Central Street using Verizon poles as anchors, but that is no longer allowed.In a letter to Board of Selectmen Clerk Wendy Reed, Verizon stated it does not allow pole to pole or pole to building or tree attachments without a license, insurance and an agreement. The form for the license alone is four pages.The First Baptist Church and the Theater Company of Saugus both sought permission to hang banners, which the board approved with the caveat that they might not go in the traditional locations.Selectman Peter Rossetti said banners could be hung straight down from one pole, but unless it’s printed correctly it could prove hard to read.He said the main reason for putting the kibosh on banner flying is liability. Should a banner come down and cause an accident, the aggrieved party would most likely sue Verizon because it is a company perceived to have deep pockets, Rossetti said.Rossetti said only non-profit and volunteer organizations are allowed to hang the banners. While the town requires the organization to post a bond, that money is used to protect the town, not Verizon.Selectman Michael Kelleher said it was disappointing that Verizon would “take that tact,” but Reed said she thought the Department of Public Works would resolve the issue in short order.DPW Superintendent Joseph Attubato said he sent crews out Monday to scour both Main and Central streets to look for trees that might work as poles.”That didn’t work out,” he said. “So I made a few calls and I might have hit pay dirt.”Attubato said he found a company that installs poles that are essentially the same size and height as Verizon’s phone poles. A representative from the company is willing to check out the situation.”He will meet with the tree foreman to look for the most viable place to put them,” he said. “Then he’ll let me know the cost. Hopefully it’s not out of sight because we want to be able to put up banners.”Rossetti said the town really isn’t in the position to spend money on installing poles but said the board does receive a number of requests, sometimes competing, to hang banners.