Groton - City mayor Dennis Popp said that he is strongly considering putting the $10 million needed to rebuild crumbling Thames Street in the budget he submits to the Town Council "and let it play out from there."

A majority of voters shot down the work in a referendum during municipal elections last November. Residents of the City of Groton, a political subdivision of the town, were the only voting districts to support the measure.

The announcement came during a joint meeting of the Town and City councils Monday night held in the city's municipal building.

Town councilors, who plan to draft a budget that does not increase spending, were not receptive to Popp's plan and instead wanted to put the Thames Street work up for a vote in a future referendum.

"I don't want to see us getting into, excuse the language, a pissing match," said Deb Monteiro, a town councilor who advocated returning the repair work to voters in a November referendum. "I think it just came down to the timing. The timing was awful."

Popp also said that his budget will maintain services rather than cut them to meet a zero-percent spending increase. Town officials said they plan to cut jobs and services but did not name any specific areas where they will make cuts.

"We're looking at positions, and a fair number of positions, to get to where we need to be," said Town Manager Mark Oefinger.

The Board of Education's budget, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the town's spending, calls for a 2.4 percent increase in spending. Town councilors said they plan to urge the board to work harder to cut costs and programs.

When one city councilor, David Hale, asked Jim Streeter, the town's mayor, what specific cuts were being eyed, town councilors had no firm answers. Streeter said they were waiting on advice from department heads, who in recent weeks have been meeting with Oefinger and the Town Council.

The City of Groton's budget is only in early stages, Popp said, but it will be one that increases spending to continue the current level of services it offers. Popp's budget goes to the town, which must approve highway and police spending or move on to negotiations between city and town officials.

Deb Peruzzotti, a freshman town councilor who served several terms on the town's Representative Town Meeting, which has final say over the budget, asked Popp what she called "the 50,000-pound elephant in the room": How would city residents react if the town was unable or unwilling to fully fund his budget requests?

"Well I don't think it's going to sit well. I think it would be pretty hard to take," Popp said. The city provides services to some of the biggest employers in town and a large proportion of its residents, he said, "and they all need services."