Rental Inspection Program Set For Council Work Session Tuesday Night

Varying conditions can be found at rental locations across Oskaloosa. (photo by City of Oskaloosa)

Varying conditions can be found at rental locations across Oskaloosa. (photo by City of Oskaloosa)

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Increasing the quality and safety of rental units for Oskaloosa is the goal the City of Oskaloosa is looking for with potential implementation of a rental inspection program.

A community meeting will be held Tuesday evening, beginning at 5:30 pm at the Oskaloosa Library.

In recent history, the city has held discussions about a rental inspection program back in 2011. Those initial discussions met with concerns from landlords.

Now, almost 5 years to the day, the discussion is once again front and center for Oskaloosa, as the city strives to find a way to clean up the community, and provide a safe living environment for its residents.

Oskaloosa City Manager, Michael Schrock, has been directed by the Oskaloosa City Council to improve housing in the community. That directive is broad in nature, but one city staff member has taken it seriously, enlisting the help of Andrew Jensen who was previously with MCDG to help achieve those goals.

Jensen, who during his time with the Mahaska Community Development Group (MDCG), along with Schrock, created a group of individuals to develop what has been adopted as the council’s housing action plan.

Some of those ways seen to help improve housing include the simple Yard of the Week program, which is handled by the Oskaloosa Area Chamber and Development Group. Other facets of the program include making sure that enforcement of dilapidated structures are taking place, and if necessary, having those structures demolished.

The rental inspection program was also part of the housing action plan. So, the previous rental inspection plan was essentially dusted off and used for reference for developing a rental inspection program for the city.

“The idea is pretty straightforward,” says Schrock. “We want to get rid of the worst properties in town that are open for rental. We have to raise the minimum standard within the community, and we believe if we start to do that, that will also help to improve housing in Oskaloosa”.

There was some backlash the last time the city looked at implementing a rental inspection program. A meeting of landlords was held at the American Legion, and the council eventually dropped the program discussion.

“I think it was surprising the first go-round to receive the reaction we did as an organization and as a community. I think that was a very quick lesson for me in understanding what we needed to do differently in going forward,” said Schrock of the rental inspection discussion that took place in 2011.

Schrock said any program “that the government is going to implement, there are going to be questions about. I think that’s expected. I think that’s how we modify programs to make them better or more responsive to the local needs of the community.”

Andrew Jensen, formerly of MCDG and now the Oskaloosa Development Services Director has been a major player in developing the housing action plan.

Jensen said that more information is now available to the public in regard to making better decisions, including the housing needs assessment and the housing action plan. “There are a lot of people, property owners, landlords, outside developers from the area really diving into those [housing] issues.”

“There’s no desire. We quite frankly don’t have time to nit-pick properties, but like Mike said, we want to get rid of, or address the worst of the worst. We want to create a level playing field,” added Jensen.

The public is invited to attend the City Council study session at the Oskaloosa Public Library on Tuesday, August 23rd beginning at 5:30 pm.

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