For every high-profile and heated public meeting on Colorado Springs’ dire affordable housing shortage, there are many more that take place in a less public setting.

Tempers flared Tuesday evening as the Colorado Springs City Council shot down an appeal by a Broadmoor Bluffs group seeking to quash construction of The Ridge, a heavily-debated affordable housing project near Colorado 115 and South Academy Boulevard. The meeting lasted hours and many left disappointed in the final decision.

Well over 100 people attended Tuesday’s meeting and Wednesday morning, surrounded by perhaps a dozen local leaders, Councilman Dave Geislinger briefly acknowledged the event. He was one of six who voted to deny the appeal.

“It was not a pleasant meeting, in a lot of ways,” Geislinger said. “It was hard.”

But he stood by his decision and moved forward with the group’s discussion on recent and upcoming ways to improve affordable dwellings and build new ones. Those in attendance included representatives of Colorado Springs nonprofits Greccio Housing and The Independence Center, the Housing & Building Association, the Housing Authority, Homeward Pikes Peak and Continuum of Care.

The group briefly discussed a recent mandate for the Colorado Springs Utilities Policy Advisory Committee to examine obstacles blocking residents from moving into or staying in an affordable living situation.

Some of the barriers identified include tap fees, development charges and restrictions on easements and accessory dwelling units, said Matt Dudden of Utilities. And the committee will present some of its findings to Utilities’ Board of Directors next week.

Another few steps in the right direction are found within proposed ordinances the council will vote on later this month, Geislinger said. If adopted, those ordinances would implement higher fees for problematic landlords who repeatedly or chronically violate housing codes.

“We really are trying to get a response that preserves the existing housing stock and makes the existing housing stock safe,” he said. “Protects the tenants there.”

And finally, Geislinger said he is working with local attorneys who might be willing to represent tenants facing eviction. Legal counsel could help those with dissolving living arrangements find new housing and avoid further legal trouble.

Additional help could come in the form of eviction mitigation funds, said Beth Roalstad, executive director of Homeward Pikes Peak and the chairwoman of Continuum of Care.

“It’s not just that someone might be evicted and it becomes difficult to rehouse them. It’s taking care of the debts that accumulate,” Roalstad said.

But how those funds might accumulate and who might be willing to lend a hand are all details yet to be determined, the group acknowledged. Wednesday’s meeting was meant to set the scene as local leaders move forward in addressing a problem that’s been present in the city for years. They said another meeting on the topic might be scheduled for next month.