STEUBENVILLE –Some two dozen community advocates met with city leaders Tuesday in hopes of mapping out a strategy for dealing with homelessness in the aftermath of the closing of Steubenville’s two emergency shelters.

Grappling with state funding cuts, Urban Mission Ministries was forced to terminate its two emergency shelters, one of them serving women and children exclusively.

“It’s not just an agency problem, it’s not just a nonprofit problem,” said Melody McClurg, Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Agency director. “It’s actually a community problem, and we’re not the only city that’s facing this problem. I meet with directors all over the state of Ohio, I go to national conferences–everybody’s trying to come up with a solution.”

City officials in the past have pointed out it’s not as easy as unlocking a door and letting people stay in public buildings or church basements: Security would be required, staffing would be a concern — even volunteers would have to be trained. Utilities would have to be paid and insurance would be necessary.

“Saturday I was at Family Dollar,” one man said. “There was a gentleman lying on the concrete, he had a bag right next to him. You know, there was nothing I can do? I have homeless verification forms but what’s the point of that if I can’t house him, you know? It’s sad, it really is.”

“This isn’t something that we can just sit on our hands and not do anything, because there’s many people that are out there in the elements,” another woman said. “No one has an answer yet.”

Council, meanwhile, voted 6-1 to seek bids for any engineering that might be needed as well as construction of the Beatty Park Shelter Rehabilitation project. The lone dissenting vote was cast by Fourth Ward Councilman Royal Mayo, who balked at proceeding with the restoration of the fire-damaged shelter because of funding concerns.

The city has a $10,000 PNC grant, a $25,000 grant from the Pugliese foundation and about $70,000 from insurance, but city officials figure they may need roughly $96,000 in additional funding to cover the cost.

“It makes sense to me to get the bids, then we can make an informed decision,” Sixth Ward Councilman Mike Hernon said.

Council also heard the second reading of an ordinance authorizing the city manager to seek bids for the Belleview Tank rehabilitation project, and presented a resolution to the widow and daughter of Scott Cramer, a longtime city employee who died recently.