ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — Advocates against the new Rays stadium proposal say they’re outraged over a new move by the St. Petersburg City Council.

The city made a late addition to the agenda for Thursday’s meeting to vote on paying around $290 million in stadium bonds.

“It sure looks like they’re trying to slip one over on us, the public,” said Ron Diner, the founder of the group No Home Run. The group opposes the current deal between the city and the Rays.

Diner said he found out about the addition to the agenda Wednesday morning when a city council member called him.

“I think that that’s not unreasonable to say, it’s sneaky,” said Diner. “This impunes the trust people can have in the way the city is moving forward. This is an enormous transaction. You can’t operate like this. And on top of it, they shouldn’t be doing it anyway.”

The city will vote on bonds to pay their portion of the project. In a statement, Mayor Ken Welch said:

“While we continue to have discussions with the Hines-Rays team and the Pinellas County Commission, the City’s position remains the same – we are focused on meeting our contractual obligations and working with our partners toward a successful outcome for the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District. This week, the St. Petersburg City Council will once again have the opportunity to vote to issue bonds to finance the project. It’s clear that the City is prepared to honor our part of the new agreements, signed in July, while we continue to wait for clarity from the Rays. I look forward to hearing the City Council’s discussion on Thursday and stand ready to support a clear path forward on this generational opportunity.”

Diner said he doesn’t see what’s not clear.

“Stop. We have a partner now who says they cannot afford the transaction. The city has no obligation to move forward with the bonds right now,” said Diner. “And quite frankly, I don’t know how you would button it up now since two weeks ago they said they can’t afford to pay for costs that are higher.”

Meanwhile, at the county level, commissioner Vince Nowicki had his first sit down with the Rays Wednesday.

“I had really great conversations with the President of the Rays today. Really looking forward to having more conversations with him. I think he has a willingness to get to a better deal and a fair deal deal for the residents,” said Nowicki. “And I think we’re starting to build a good relationship with the Rays.”

Nowicki was just sworn in as commissioner in November. He spoke up about his opposition to the deal, and after his two-hour conversation Wednesday, he is still against it but expects revisions and amendments to the plan, as well as for the Rays to pay more.

“I’ve had some conversations with folks that have been in construction of large scale like this,” said Nowicki. “And they seem to be with the impression that as long as bonds are issued by June 2025, a new stadium could be ready by March 2028.”

8 On Your Side asked Nowicki his thoughts on the city adding a bonds vote to their agenda unexpectedly.

“It leads me to think a couple of things. One, they’re trying to strong-arm the county into saying, ‘Hey, you know we’ve done our part. Do your part,’ but elections have consequences,” said Nowicki. “I don’t blame the administration, the mayor’s administration for bringing this up, because if they wait till January, you’re going to get two more City Council members that aren’t in favor of this deal. They said that it’s a bad deal and they’re not in favor of going forward with it. So if they don’t go forward with it tomorrow, it’s going to be increasingly harder for the Rays to get to a deal, and so it, you know, the Rays aren’t gonna strong-arm me.”

Thursday’s meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. The group No Home Run plans to protest outside city hall at noon.