City Manager Al Coby tells IN his decision not to accept a petition to stop the construction of stadium for the Community Maritime Park is final unless reversed by City Council or in a court of law.
“Mr. (Marty)Â Donovan did come to city hall this morning at approximately 8:25 and did in fact request we take petition,” said Coby. “We did not.”
Donovan and 10 other citizens who were behind the petition had 60 days under the city’s charter  to collect signatures from 10 percent of the electorate to create a referendum. The deadline was Friday to report the signatures to the City’s Clerk for counting.
Coby says he had indicated to Donovan that the deadline meant 5 p.m. since it was the end of the business day for city employees. He says extended the deadline by 30 minutes because he was on the phone with Donovan during that time.
The group then requested that they be allowed to deliver the 3, 916 signature petition at 8:30 p.m.—that request was denied.
“Donovan indicated he would not be able to submit those by close of business. The charter is silent in time wise, but we merely said it had to be submitted to the city clerk and her normal business hours are 8-5.”