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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; A meeting Monday at City Hall could lead to a new budget proposal being presented to city council for approval before year&rsquo;s end.
				Mayor George Brown on Wednesday said the hope is he and the three council members who voted against his proposed $53.2 million balanced budget for 2021 can reach some common ground.
				At council&rsquo;s Nov. 19 meeting the trio of Tony Brooks, Beth Gilbert McBride and John Marconi opposed doubling the annual sewer and recycling fees to $100, leaving Brown to warn of layoffs and cuts in services without the $2 million in revenues generated by the hikes.
				Of the three, Brooks, council vice chairman, will attend the meeting scheduled for 9 a.m. in Brown&rsquo;s office. He will be joined by council Chairman Bill Barrett who voted for the budget with councilman Mike Belusko.
				With only two of the five council members present, there won&rsquo;t be a quorum requiring the meeting to be open to the public under the state Sunshine Law.
				&ldquo;I take it as a good sign and I thank the mayor for reaching out and trying to reach a compromise and common ground,&rdquo; Brooks said.
				Brooks added he will speak with McBride and Marconi over the weekend and coordinate presenting their suggestions at the meeting.
				Some of the suggestions presented previously included cutting the $900,000 in budgeted overtime, a wage freeze, requesting some of the non-profits to increase their annual Payment in Lieu of Taxes and a sticker program to replace the blue bags residents must purchase and use to dispose of their garbage.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to listen to them. We&rsquo;re going to evaluate what they&rsquo;re suggestions are,&rdquo; Brown said of what&rsquo;s presented to him Monday.
				The mayor promoted the fee increases as his preferred choice over layoffs and raising property taxes.
				Council has just two scheduled meetings next month, Dec. 3 and Dec. 17. If a new budget is to be presented and enacted by the end of the year it will require approval by council at two readings.

Meeting Monday to seek common ground with opponents of Wilkes-Barre Mayor Brown’s proposed budget