A public hearing and planned vote on changes to Oakwood’s sign law, particularly concerning the display of banners, is set for tonight.

Oakwood City Council plans to hold the hearing and final vote at its regularly scheduled monthly meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 4035 Walnut Circle.

City officials have said they are concerned with banners springing up all around the city and then staying up indefinitely.

Council voted Jan. 12 to give its first OK to an ordinance that would require residents to register banners with the city at no charge and specify when they intend to put up a banner and take it down. Despite the passage, council members suggested changes concerning frequency of displaying banners and for how long each time.

City Planner Larry Sparks has said that City Attorney Donnie Hunt is developing a revised version of the ordinance.

"As soon as the amendment is adopted, we will notify all businesses of the changes," he said.

Only City Councilman Gary Anderson has opposed the measure, saying he worries about additional requirements that might cause businesses economic hardship.

In other business, the council will hear an update on the city’s public works department’s efforts to have one of its employees, Randall Kimbrell, a newly certified corrections officer, lead an inmate cleanup crew.

Public works supervisor Jason Spencer said in an interview this fall that the initiative will result in the city having a full-time crew and "basically doubling our work force."

That’ll be a big help, with "all the new sidewalks and medians coming in," he said.

Construction is expected to start this spring on the final 1.3-mile leg of Thurmon Tanner Parkway, which runs from Spout Springs Road in Flowery Branch to Plainview Road in Oakwood and from Mundy Mill Road to Atlanta Highway in Oakwood.

The new four-lane segment will run from Plainview Road to Mundy Mill Road.