Banners return to the Oakwood City Council agenda tonight.

City Council has given its first OK to sign ordinance changes to govern the display of banners, but at the last meeting, it couldn’t come to any consensus in its final consideration and decided to put off the issue.

The matter reappears tonight for final consideration.

The meeting is set to start at 7 at City Hall, 4035 Walnut Circle.

Councilmen Gary Anderson and Ron McFarland have expressed opposition to the changes.

Anderson has been particularly vocal, saying that area businesses trying to eke out a living in a severe recession don’t need the extra regulation.

Councilman Montie Robinson has pushed for the changes.

"I don’t think it’s a good business practice for a city to open the gate for anybody to hang any kind of bedsheet out in front of their establishment to advertise ... a business," he said.

City officials have said that banners have sprung up around the city, with some businesses keeping them up indefinitely, and that the current law prohibits them altogether. The new law would attempt to set controls.

City Council held a public hearing on the matter, but no one showed to speak.

In other business, the council is set to consider resolutions authorizing Acting City Manager Patti Doss-Luna to contract with Hawkins & McNair to perform the 2008 audit and with Morton, Vardeman & Carlson for consulting services between January and December 2009.

Also, the council plans to consider action regarding a sewer easement with Gainesville along the final leg of the Thurmon Tanner Parkway.

Grading is expected to start this month on the 1.3-mile project, which involves extending the four-lane parkway from Plainview Road to Mundy Mill Road, where it picks up again and runs to Atlanta Highway.

Completion is set for Dec. 31, 2010.