Mayor

, returning from a breakfast meeting with city Councilman

, got into a spirited discussion this morning with one of the

on North Fourth Street.

"I think they're littering there," Panto said this morning, adding he wanted to yell at the protester but controlled his temper and the tone of his voice. "The area looks terrible."

The city hopes to have the city parking lot adjacent to the tent camp open within a week to deal with overflow as the enlarged

reopens in Centre Square, the mayor said.

The group's cardboard protest signs lying on the mulch, in addition to cans and plastic bottles on the ground, need to be cleaned up, Panto said. The area has a "disheveled look," he said. He said the protester he spoke with said the signs were biodegradable but then agreed to spruce up the city property.

One of the protesters, who would only identify himself and his counterparts as part of the Occupy the Planet collective, said he was the one who spoke with Panto. Many of the group didn't realize the conversation was with the mayor.

"He asked me what I was going to do when they come to plant environmentally friendly seeds here and I said, 'We'd help you do it,'" the man said.

He recalled Panto told them their signs were littering, but he disagreed, saying they were on the ground to be displayed for the public. The group opposes littering, according to the protester. In fact, they planned on helping pick up trash and litter about noon along Fifth Street.

Panto said again today the protesters are in violation of city law, but says he has two reasons for not immediately forcing them to leave.

"We don't want to give them the notoriety they are looking for," he said. "They are violating the law, no doubt about it. ... Do I enforce the law and run the risk of a lawsuit that costs the city thousands of dollars to defend?"

Panto said he knows the city's ordinances would stand up in court, but he was equally sure "some group" would challenge removing the protesters.

"It is a frustrating thing," Panto said. "I don't want to do the wrong thing."

The Occupy protesters aren't worried about the law. Another man who would not identify himself said the police were respectful in other encounters with the group and protesters expect the same this time.

"I think the police around here respect what we're doing," the man said. "They got their roles and we got our roles to play. We're all just trying to make this place better, to make this place cooler."

The protesters said they do expect to be approached by police at some point, but they would not reveal what they plan to do about it.

"We're willing to stay here indefinitely," one of the protesters added.

Panto said he's been contacted by more than two dozen people either at his office or on the city's streets and they uniformly want him to get rid of the protesters.

But, as for now, the mayor said, "We're going to see how it runs its course. ... (But) they're going to have to move."

Those camped out on North Fourth Street say they've had the opposite interaction with visitors, who they say have stopped by frequently to talk. The man who spoke with Panto this morning, a neon green bandana hanging around his neck, said he's well aware of the visitors expected within the week for the Crayola Experience in Centre Square. He said he doesn't care what outsiders think of him as long as they understand the point of the movement.

"I think their opinion of me is irrelevant as long as they understand that I'm just trying to better the world," he said.