EVANS CITY — Mayor Dean Zinkhann is on a mission to adopt a military banner program, but has run into a hurdle.

The Military Banner Tribute program features large banners with veterans’ pictures that would be hung along main street.

However, First Energy does not allow anything to be attached to their light poles.

Zinkhann asked Wayne Perry, who is the VFW District 25 Commander and Commander at VFW Post 7505 in Mars, to attend the Dec. 1 borough council meeting to announce the Military Banner Tribute program.

Through the program, veterans’ family members pay $80 to have a 2-by-3-foot banner picturing their loved one hung from a bracket on a light pole on Main Street. The families also would receive two smaller banners for display at their homes.

At Monday’s meeting, Perry introduced the father and stepmother of Army Staff Sgt. Eric Holman, 39, of Evans City, who was killed in August 2012 in Afghanistan. Perry presented David and Jan Holman with the smaller banners, which pictured Sgt. Holman.

Perry told the council that the VFW supports Zinkhann’s efforts to initiate the Military Banner Tribute in Evans City, but First Energy strictly forbids anything being placed on their poles. Perry then presented a large banner picturing the young sergeant to the Holmans, and council and all those attending the meeting stood to applaud.

“We need to hang this banner on Main Street so everyone can see the young man who gave his life for his country,” Perry said.

Chris Eck, a spokesman at First Energy’s Akron office, said on Monday that the banners would not be permitted. He said safety issues can arise if a banner comes in contact with live wires during a high wind event. He said a windswept banner can also damage First Energy equipment on the pole.

Eck suggested the banners be hung on storefronts, or that the borough add their own poles. He said New Castle, Lawrence County, officials did erect their own poles for streetside banners.

Asked if First Energy would be willing to contribute funds to Evans City toward poles, Eck said borough officials could apply for a grant through the First Energy Foundation. But Harry Munson, who began the Military Banner Tribute program in 2009 in Castle Shannon, Allegheny County, said pole owners Duquesne Light and Verizon Wireless were more than accommodating regarding the more than 1,000 banners they allowed to be hung.

The Holmans hope something can be worked out.

“These guys give their lives,” said David Holman, who is also a veteran. “We need to honor our servicemen and women.”

He praised Zinkhann and the council for the honor on Monday night.

Councilman David Spithaler was surprised and delighted when Perry presented him with a banner, which contains a picture of Spithaler as a young sailor in the 1960s. “That’s great,” said Spithaler, who in 1962 served aboard the USS Shaoki in Guantanamo Bay during the Bay of Pigs blockade.

“Thank you for your service,” said council President Lee Dyer.

More information on the Military Banner Tribute program is available at www.troopbanners.com.