Elk River to vote on flying the old Minnesota flag

Zumbrota City Council votes to hang old state flag

The Zumbrota City Council has voted to no longer hang the new Minnesota state flag but the old one. The state flag only flies in the City Council chambers and no where else in the city. FOX 9's Mike Manzoni has more. 

ELK RIVER, Minn. (FOX 9) - Elk River is set to pass a resolution to fly the old Minnesota state flag. 

Old Minnesota flag to be flown in Elk River

Local perspective:

The Elk River City Council voted unanimously to draft a resolution to fly the old Minnesota state flag on all city properties. 

The resolution passed Monday night after the city council shared community feedback they received regarding the flag decision. 

By the numbers:

Some Elk River residents completed a survey on flying the old flag. 

Out of the 1,053 responses, 786 (74.64%) supported the display of the former flag, while 257 (24.41%) showed a preference for the new flag. 

What's next:

The resolution will be drafted for consideration and final vote at the April 20 city council meeting. 

City Administrator Calvin Portner told FOX 9 the resolution will likely be on the consent agenda, so there won't be any further discussion on the matter. 

What they're saying:

Council members argue that the new flag was decided by a group of people who were not elected, and it fails to represent other parts of Minnesota. 

Some community members argued at the Monday night council meeting that keeping the old flag would bring divisiveness, stating the new flag brings the state together. 

Other community members say the old flag represented their history, but the new flag does not. 

Elk River Mayor John Dietz said in his 32 years in community leadership, he has never gotten 1,100 emails on any topic like he did for the flag discussion.