If you live in Galesburg and have lead paint on your house, you may qualify for a grant to remove it. Tuesday night, a meeting will be held to find qualifying houses that require lead remediation. Households selected to receive the grant will also participate in a study.
Wayne Carl is the Director of Planning and Public Works for the city.
"The goal is to take the blood lead levels before the improvements, make the improvements, then monitor the blood lead levels over time to develop a report saying how effective this lead paint remediation is."
This project is state-funded, and homeowners are not required to pay for any of the remediation. Both Galesburg and the Western Illinois Regional Council will sponsor the program. The city will receive $100 thousand for the study, and $500 thousand will be used to remove lead paint.
Lead paint was banned for use in housing in 1978.
"...81% of our homes were built prior to that ban. So most of the homes in Galesburg have lead paint."
Carl figures there is enough money to work on 20 homes. The program is open to low-income homeowners of Galesburg. The meeting will be held Tuesday night at 6 PM in City Hall.