ROCKLAND — A petition movement started by Dale Hayward to force the City Council to cease efforts to appeal the Floyd Firth case and pay a $40,000 damages judgment, cannot be presented to voters in a referendum question. That was the ruling of City Attorney Stephen Little in reviewing the initial petitions presented by Hayward.

In a related development Monday night, the council voted to file a notice of appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The action came following an executive session. Mayor Thomas Molloy said that the notice of appeal was made to protect the city’s rights to file an appeal. Malloy said that the city had up to a year to file a motion for another appeal with Superior Court seeking a new hearing based on the discovery of new evidence.

Hayward, however, said Monday that the issue of a referendum was not dead. “It’s far from done. We’re researching it more,” he said. “We are talking with legal counsel and there are enough people interested to put up the front money to do this.”

Hayward, an outspoken critic of city affairs, said that citizens must have some avenue to reverse decisions of city officials that were wrong. He maintained that it was a waste of money to continue to challenge a court ruling that awarded Firth $40,000 for alleged injuries received at the hands of police during an arrest. The city was unable to defend the charges because it failed to file an answer to Firth’s suit.

City officials have insisted there were sufficient grounds to appeal the ruling. Last week the city lost another appeal in Superior Court seeking to have the judgment set aside and a new trial. Not only were the motions denied, Justice Herbert T. Silsby II ordered the city to pay Firth’s attorney fees of $9,780 and expenses of $1,718.

Hayward claimed the city should pay the claims and seek reimbursement from Little and other city officials responsible for failure to represent the city properly in allowing the claim to go unchallenged.

The opinion from Little on the petition was that the city’s initiative and referendum ordinance only allowed petitions movements dealing with legislative matters, such as changes in the city charter or city ordinances.

In setting its agenda for the council’s regular meeting on Monday, March 12, Molloy said the Hayward petitions would be included so that they “could be properly disposed of.”

The Parks Commission appeared before the council with a proposal to refurbish Berliawsky Park on Scott Street in the area of Sandy Beach. Joseph Steinberger, chairman of the commission, introduced Beth Miller, a landscape architect who explained a proposed new design for the park that would include numerous plants, new benches and fencing.

The project, which would cost about $8,000, would be paid from the estate of the late Nathan Berliawsky, long time Rockland businessman who operated the Thorndike Hotel for many years. The project must also have the approval of Berliawsky’s widow, Lillian Berliawsky.

The plan received the endorsement of the council with a resolve to be placed on the agenda for formal approval. Molloy requested the Parks Commission also review a 1986 study by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers which designed an upgrade of the beach area. The project, which would require matching funds from the city, could result in an attractive in-town recreation area, Molloy said.

Acting Fire Chief Raymond Wooster brought a recommendation to the council that a contract for a new fire truck be awarded to Emergency Equipment Inc. of Rawley, N. C., the low bidder at $136,903. Wooster also recommended the city purchase several options, bringing the price to just under the $145,000 approved by voters last November.

An order authorizing the purchase will be before the council for a vote next Monday.