By HOi ABC

BLOOMINGTON – A narrow Bloomington City Council majority favors continued discussions about providing near-term financial help to flood victims even as elected leaders look at longer-term flood-related repairs costing many millions of dollars.

At a committee-of-the-whole meeting Monday night, five of the nine council members backed Mollie Ward’s proposal directing staff to come up with money for people still hurting from historic flooding that happened in late June.

Ward said she knows people who don’t have money to qualify for loans that would help them keep their homes.

“We have people who have holes in the foundations that are big enough for you to drive a car through, who have wet mud in their basement knee-deep still,” said Ward.

Four council members were opposed to Ward’s idea, noting the city is working on longer-term sewer upgrades that staffers estimate will cost more than $13 million. Also, they wanted more information about the dollar amount of the financial assistance and where the money would come from.

“I think it’s a noble initiative, but I think the moral obligation falls on the council to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars and possibly reach out to other community entities to assist,” said Council member Donna Boelen.

Sheila Montney, Nick Becker, and Tom Crumpler also voted against further consideration of providing financial help to food victims.