Bellew said she wants the council to refile the entire plan--which it would automatically do if it does not vote on it before midnight tonight--and wait to include her team's reccomendations instead of passing a citywide rezoning plan which does not include East Cambridge.

And Councillor Henrietta Davis, who is a strong supporter of the original plan, said she is confident that the Born-Maher proposal will not be passed tonight.

"I'm in favor of returning to the original plan--it was developed with three years of thought and public process," said Davis. "From what I hear it doesn't look good."

Both Harvard and MIT sent letters of opposition to the original plan, individually and jointly.

"The proposal is being opposed by the universities, by the unions, and by most major landowners," Born said.

But Mary Power, Harvard's senior director of community relations, said she had not seen the new proposal yet and was unable to comment on it.

"A Harvard representative will attend the City Council meeting on Monday," she said yesterday.

Tonight's vote could bring to an end a process which began on Sept. 12, 1997, when the council gave its go-ahead for a rezoning plan to be developed by the Planning Board.