Five Things on City Council's Agenda for Thursday

City Council has a full agenda (see attached PDF) for its public meeting 7 p.m. Thursday (March 22) at City Hall, but here are five things that might be of interest.

• City Council will vote on the second and potentially final reading of an . The changes make a distinction between candidate signs (allowed only 30 days prior to an election) and political signs (free speech allowed any time of year). One practical example: The "Don't Change Ocean City" signs would become legal. (Ordinances usually take effect 20 days after they're passed, and in this case, the election would be less than 30 days away and the signs would be legal under the old ordinance anyway.)
• City Council will vote on a resolution introducing the 2012 municipal budget (). The process offers an opportunity for the public to comment as City Council works toward approving a final budget later this spring. The draft budget of about $69 million represents a 0.35 percent increase over last year's budget.
• City Council will vote to award a contract to install a traffic light at the intersection of Fifth Street and West Avenue.
• City Council will vote on a resolution appointing Business Administrator Mike Dattilo as a member of the Lifeguard Pension Commission.
• City Council will vote to go into executive session (closed to the public) to discuss appointments to the Ethics Board and the Utility Advisory Commission. Council to preserve the Ethics Board, and it needs to make two appointments to fill out the five-member board.