In reviewing a proposal for the site of a permanent memorial honoring the memory of the 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, Police Commission members are recommending that video surveillance be considered an important component of the project.

At a December 1 Police Commission meeting, Kyle Lyddy, the chairman of the 12-member Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission, asked Police Commission members for their ideas on the evolving plans for a memorial at the High Meadow at Fairfield Hills.

After reviewing about 30 potential local sites for such a memorial, the memorial commission is now focusing its planning on a less than one acre site situated at the High Meadow. It is yet unclear what physical form that memorial would take.

Police Commission Chairman Joel Faxon asked about the security aspects of locating a memorial at the High Meadow.

“It’s a fairly secluded area,” he noted.

Mr Lyddy said security will be an important aspect of the project.

Police Commission Vice Chairman Brian Budd, who is a police officer, said it would be good for the memorial to have full-time video surveillance for the sake of the site’s security, when considering the prospect of vandalism problems.

Mr Lyddy is expected to discuss the security issues raised by the Police Commission with memorial commission members.

The town-owned site designated as the “core memorial space” is about 0.85 acre. The site lies roughly 1,000 feet southeast of NYA Sports & Fitness Center and also about 700 feet northeast of the town’s dual public water supply storage tanks. The memorial site is designated as a town “open space” area.

Access to the site would be provided via a trail extending from the turnaround circle at the eastern end of Keating Farms Avenue. That trail, which would be surfaced with finely crushed stone, would be roughly 1,100 feet long, based on mapping provided to the Police Commission.

The area considered for a memorial would be at the border of some woods and a field. The site is in the vicinity of existing walking trails.

Mr Lyddy told Police Commission members that the memorial commission’s charge is to make a recommendation on a permanent memorial to the Board of Selectmen.

In reviewing the about 30 possible sites, memorial commission members visited a dozen locations to gauge their potential, Mr Lyddy said.

The memorial commission is working to determine the logistics of creating a memorial at the High Meadow, he said.

During 2016, the memorial commission plans to develop a “request for proposals” (RFP) for the design of the memorial itself.

The memorial panel would work with the town Parks & Recreation Department in terms of site maintenance, Mr Lyddy said.

(Revised at 2:28 pm on 12/4/2015)