The Ames City Council passed a resolution confirming the feasibility of the Human Services Campus on Tuesday night.

Although the passing of the resolution demonstrated the City Council’s support for the Human Services Campus project, members said they need to see more evidence for its possibility through financial backing. Story County of United Way has lent its support to the project, pledging to test plausibility and to secure possible financial backers.

City council member Matthew Goodman expressed some hesitation on the matter of the council donating a proposed $30,000 to the project when no single service entity has signed a commitment of intent letter. The council has already given $18,000 in support of the project.

“I am showing support for the project, but I am concerned about giving more money to something we don’t understand our role in yet,” he said.

There are many matters still undecided in finding a permanent home for Ames’ human services organizations, said Sheila Lundt, assistant city manager. The proposed site is the First Evangelical Free Church, 2008 24th St., but no commitment can be obtained from the sellers until the organizations commit to moving in.

Mid-Iowa Community Action, Inc., the Ames Community Preschool, the Richmond Center and Heartland Senior Services are all running out of space and are falling behind on repairs, she said. MICA, an agency that serves low-income families through a variety of services, is going to exceed its capacity to serve after July 1.

“We are going to have to speed the process up,” she said. “We want to hit the ground running.”

On Wednesday, Lundt said she would be meeting with the individual organizations, letting them know the March 1 deadline of commitment has been moved up to Feb. 26.

Although the resolution approving the professional services project with the RDG/Rudi Lee Dreyer architectural firm was passed, the fate of the project still depends on obtaining a Special Use Permit to rezone the property of the building.