The East Lansing City Council will continue discussion of an ordinance that could change the maximum height allowed for city buildings at tonight’s work session.

The height limit in the downtown area is eight stories, or 14 with a city permit. Changes to the ordinance would lower height limits across the city.

A revised version of the ordinance will debut in front of council members at the meeting.

The council has been discussing the ordinance for several months, and is expected to take action by the end of April.

Councilmember Sam Singh said even if the council can’t come to a consensus, it should be able to find a majority.

“I think we’ve debated significantly,” Singh said. “Each one of us is coming to it with different ideas in mind.”

The council also will discuss a possible increase in the budget for Community Improvement Challenge Grants, a program that allows area groups to set aside money for the city to match the amount of.

Since the program began in 1995, the amount of money being requested has gone below the original $50,000 budget amount, causing the city to remove the unused money from the budget.

Eight groups have requested more than $51,000 this year for playground equipment, landscaping, holiday lighting and amenities for the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road, which is being developed.

Council members must decide whether to increase the budget back to its original dollar level, which would allow most of the projects to receive funding.

Ronald Springer, city community development analyst, said seven of the projects have been recommended for approval based on a $50,000 budget.

“(Community Groups) ate up the budget the first few years, but then it dropped,” he said.

“This year, we got $50,000 in requests again, and I want to see if they want to look into allocating that much money.”