AMHERST - Town Meeting rejected a request to urge the Select Board to fly 29 commemorative flags on Sept. 11 every year, but approved a petition asking public radio station WFCR to form a citizen advisory board.

The latter passed with a vote of 91-77, but not without some static from members who said they are opposed to telling the station what to do.

The flag question, brought to Town Meeting by member Larry Kelley, failed 96-41.

Kelley has asked the Select Board to fly the 29 commemorative flags every year since 2001 but has had little luck convincing the board most years.

Whatever Town Meeting decided to do the board would abide by, Chairman Gerald Weiss said.

Select Board member Anne Awad, however, urged Town Meeting to defeat the request. Flag-flying has a bit of a 'celebratory' feel, she said.

A motion by Carol Gray to refer the flag question to the Human Rights Commission failed 82-59.

Changes in programming at WFCR in January prompted the successful petition article, similar versions of which passed at recent town meetings in Pelham and Shutesbury. Four niche programs were dropped, much to the chagrin of some listeners.

Martin Miller, WFCR's general manager,. said the decision was largely for economic reasons. The station is seeking to hire a Spanish-speaking reporter and needed to find the money somewhere, he said.

One of the programs, 'Tertulia,' which features Latin American music, has since been restored, although for fewer hours a week. But the cancellation of 'Valley Folk' has dealt a blow to folk musicians, fans and local venues, the article's proponents said.

They said WFCR's management has been unresponsive to requests for more community involvement.

There are fewer and fewer local voices on the station, petitioner Paul Gorman said. 'Click and Clack (Cambridge-based car mechanics), Guy Noir (a fictional character created by Garrison Keillor) all come from somewhere else.'

The other two canceled programs were 'Thistle and Shamrock' and 'Afropop Worldwide.'

Town Meeting member Hilda Greenbaum said WFCR has a heavily commercial feel to it. It always seems to her that the station is often hawking 'trips to Alaska to see birds.'

Early in the hour-long discussion, Town Meeting member Philip Jackson made an effort to cut it short by moving to have the article dismissed.

He said the body has many more important things to do this year, but the motion failed by a vote of 90-82.

Member James Smith said he got the 'whiff of political correctness' from the petitioners' presentations.

Irvin Rhodes suggested that listeners vote with their money and not contribute to WFCR if they are not happy with its programming.

Richard Morse countered that a lot of people don't have enough money to make their voices heard that way.

In other action, Town Meeting defeated another request by Kelley to create a town bylaw establishing fines for violation of the Open Meeting Law and referred to the Board of Health an article asking for the establishment of a nonsmoking apartment unit at Village Park apartments.

An article calling on the Legislature to pass a law allowing 'resident aliens' to vote in local elections passed 154-22. It is the fifth time Town Meeting has approved the measure.