Everyone seems to agree it’s a good idea to honor local heroes with banners hanging above Bradford City’s streets.

But now, three groups will have to work together to agree on the details.

Bradford city council hosted a work session Tuesday evening in council chambers after two separate groups approached city officials about putting hometown hero banners in Bradford.

A committee that formed at VFW Post 212 presented its idea before council at the July 23 meeting. At that time, Mayor Tom Riel informed them that another group of citizens approached him a few weeks prior with a similar idea. At his suggestion, a work session was set for Tuesday so the two groups could meet.

On Tuesday, Bob Witchen, commander of American Legion Post 108, announced the Legion wants to help, too.

“We’re 100 percent behind putting these banners up,” he said later in the meeting.

Prior to discussion, Riel explained the goal of the work session is to start thinking about the project guidelines, such as how large the banners would be, where they will be placed and who will clean them.

He said it will likely be at least spring before any banners could be hung, though ongoing construction downtown means it will likely be longer before banners could be hung on Main Street.

All three groups and city representatives alike are excited about the project, but it was clear that some compromise will be involved in making the idea a reality.

The main point of contention was who to include in the list of honorees. The VFW committee has been advocating to include all veterans and first responders, past or current. Meanwhile, the citizens group and city officials brought up concerns about there being too many honorees and not enough space for flags.

Amy Peterson, president of the Lt. John C. Roche VFW Post 212 Auxiliary, said the VFW Hometown Heroes Committee has received names of about 40 heroes so far, and she does not expect there to be too many submissions.

Several people were not so sure the project would not become too big.

“You can’t put on all the people who were first responders,” said Leo Carney, who is from the citizens’ group. He explained he was a first responder for 28 years, and if all the first responders active during that time had a banner, there could be a thousand banners.

“You’re opening a box of worms,” added Joe Doriguzzi, also part of the citizens’ group.

Kate Kloss, a trustee with the VFW’s Frances Sherman Auxiliary, said a group in DuBois had a campaign that included first responders. They recently hung a more reasonable 66 banners for their campaign, she said.

Sara Andrews, executive director of the Office of Economic and Community Development, suggested talking to the DuBois group about who they included as heroes and finding out what the pros and cons were for their project.

Other suggestions included choosing larger banners and putting them in areas with more foot traffic so they were easier to see, using double-sided banners with a different hero on each side to save space and money, rotating banners if there are more heroes than spots, and placing flags high enough and away from the road so they are not in the way of tractor trailers.

The VFW’s committee has been thinking about the banner project for months and

Peterson indicated there is a plan to store the flags during the winter.

“I just need help putting (the banners) up and taking them down,” she said.

Peterson also said the per-banner cost the group has been suggesting is $200, which will help to cover costs such as hardware, installation and maintenance. This is just an estimated cost, and the VFW has not started collecting money from people who submit names.

“So far, no one has blinked an eye at it,” Kloss said of the estimated cost.

Carney suggested asking for donations from people at local factories to help pay for the banners.

Later in the meeting, Carney explained, “A lot of the kids I grew up with were killed in Vietnam,” and he does not want those families to have to pay to have their loved ones honored with a banner. “I believe those are the hometown heroes,” he said of those who died in war.

Attendees brought up several ideas for spots the banners could be placed, too.

Peterson suggested the banners be up from May through Nov. 11 — Veterans Day. She would be happy just to have them up in summertime, if that worked out better with the weather.

Despite differences in how attendees envision the project, not one person expressed opposition to the project in general.

Councilman Terry Lopus said the Hometown Hero banners are a “wonderful concept.”

“I think it’s a nice addition to our community. I applaud you for it,” Lopus told the meeting attendees.

Riel asked the three groups to work together as one to hash out guidelines before meeting with city council again.

Kloss suggested the groups attend a committee meeting the VFW is holding at 6 p.m. Aug. 26.

A tentative work session will be held with city council at 6 p.m. Sept. 10.

“I think we can all work together and come up with a good compromise,” said Andrews.

Peterson agreed. “We just want to make this happen.”