With changes made by the Galesburg City Council to the Rental Licensing and Housing Minimum Standards codes in June, city administration is holding educational sessions for landlords this month to provide information and guidance on the changes.
The first of three non-mandatory meetings is being held Wednesday, September 12th, at 11:00 a.m., at the Galesburg City Council Chambers at City Hall.
Housing Coordinator Judy Guenseth tells WGIL that all three sessions will be identical, and will cover the recent changes made, including the annual licensing of rental units and minimum standards.
“I will be doing part of the presentation but because the city clerk’s office does the licensure – previously it was a registration, now it’s going to be a licensure,” Guenseth says, “because of the changes, the clerk’s office will be also helping with those presentations and talking about how that process will work for the landlords.
The other two meetings are on Tuesday, September 18th, at 2:00 p.m., and Thursday, September 27th, at 6:00 p.m. Guenseth says they are free to attend, and reservations can be made.
Landlords are encouraged to attend one of these meetings. Guenseth says the sessions will run like a presentation, but questions are welcome.
“Code language isn’t always readily understandable, so we will probably allow questions as we process through it.” She adds that the goal is to run an hour, but they’ll open questions at the end of the sessions and answer what they can.
Guenseth says the city is trying to get ahead of these changes and says that most of the changes don’t take effect until the spring. Part of those changes includes a self-inspection checklist, which she says that some landlords have already sent in.
A fourth session for owner-occupied homes was scheduled for Tuesday, October 2nd, at 6:00 p.m. that will cover just Housing Minimum Standard codes.
Guenseth indicated that if there was a strong attendance at the meetings, more would be scheduled.
