CHAPTER 94: HEALTH AND SAFETY; NUISANCES
Section
General Provisions
   94.01   Assessable current services
   94.02   Tree diseases
Nuisances
   94.15   Public nuisance
   94.16   Public nuisances affecting health
   94.17   Public nuisances affecting morals and decency
   94.18   Public nuisances affecting peace and safety
   94.19   Nuisance parking and storage
   94.20   Inoperable motor vehicles
   94.21   Building maintenance and appearance
   94.22   Duties of city officers
   94.23   Abatement
   94.24   Recovery of cost
Weeds
   94.35   Short title
   94.36   Jurisdiction
   94.37   Definitions; exclusions
   94.38   Owners responsible for trimming, removal, and the like
   94.39   Filing complaint
   94.40   Notice of violations
   94.41   Appeals
   94.42   Abatement by city
   94.43   Liability
Cross-reference:
   Burning of Solid Fuels, see §§ 90.01 et seq.
   Drug Labs and Chemical Dumps, see Chapter 91
   Public Works, see Title V
GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 94.01 ASSESSABLE CURRENT SERVICES.
   (A)   Definition. For the purpose of this section, the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
      CURRENT SERVICE. Shall mean one or more of the following: snow, ice, or rubbish removal from sidewalks; weed elimination from street grass plots adjacent to sidewalks or from private property; removal or elimination of public health or safety hazards from private property, excluding any hazardous building included in M.S. §§ 463.15 et seq., as they may be amended from time to time; installation or repair of water service lines; street sprinkling, street flushing, light street oiling, or other dust treatment of streets; repair of sidewalks and alleys; trimming and care of trees and removal of unsound and insect-infected trees from the public streets or private property; and the operation of a street lighting system.
   (B)   Snow, ice, dirt, and rubbish.
      (1)   Duty of owners and occupants. The owner and the occupant of any property adjacent to a public sidewalk shall use diligence to keep the walk safe for pedestrians. No owner or occupant shall allow snow, ice, dirt, or rubbish to remain on the walk longer than 24 hours after its deposit thereon. Failure to comply with this section shall constitute a violation.
      (2)   Removal by city. The City Clerk/Treasurer or other person designated by the City Council may cause removal from all public sidewalks all snow, ice, dirt, and rubbish as soon as possible beginning 24 hours after any matter has been deposited thereon or after the snow has ceased to fall. The City Clerk/Treasurer or other designated person shall keep a record showing the cost of removal adjacent to each separate lot and parcel.
   (C)   Public health and safety hazards. When the city removes or eliminates public health or safety hazards from private property under the following provisions of this chapter, the administrative officer responsible for doing the work shall keep a record of the cost of the removal or elimination against each parcel of property affected and annually deliver that information to the City Clerk/Treasurer.
   (D)   Installation and repair of water service lines. Whenever the city installs or repairs water service lines serving private property under this code, the City Clerk/Treasurer shall keep a record of the total cost of the installation or repair against the property.
   (E)   Repair of sidewalks and alleys.
      (1)   Duty of owner. The owner of any property within the city abutting a public sidewalk or alley shall keep the sidewalk or alley in repair and safe for pedestrians. Repairs shall be made in accordance with the standard specifications approved by the City Council and on file in the office of the City Clerk/Treasurer.
      (2)   Inspections; notice. The City Council or its designee shall make inspections as are necessary to determine that public sidewalks and alleys within the city are kept in repair and safe for pedestrians or vehicles. If it is found that any sidewalk or alley abutting on private property is unsafe and in need of repairs, the City Council shall cause a notice to be served, by mail or by personal service, upon the record owner of the property, ordering the owner to have the sidewalk or alley repaired and made safe within 30 days and stating that if the owner fails to do so, the city will do so and that the expense thereof must be paid by the owner, and if unpaid it will be made a special assessment against the property concerned.
      (3)   Repair by city. If the sidewalk or alley is not repaired within 30 days after receipt of the notice, the City Clerk/Treasurer shall report the facts to the City Council and the City Council shall by resolution order the work done by contract in accordance with law. No person shall enter private property to repair a sidewalk, except with the permission of the owner or after obtaining an administrative warrant. The City Clerk/Treasurer shall keep a record of the total cost of the repair attributable to each lot or parcel of property.
   (F)   Personal liability. The owner of property on which or adjacent to which a current service has been performed shall be personally liable for the cost of the service. As soon as the service has been completed and the cost determined, the City Clerk/Treasurer, or other designated official, shall prepare a bill and mail it to the owner and thereupon the amount shall be immediately due and payable at the office of the City Clerk/Treasurer.
   (G)   Damage to public property. Any person driving any vehicle, equipment, object, or contrivance upon any street, road, highway, or structure shall be liable for all damages which the surface or structure thereof may sustain as a result of any illegal operation, or driving or moving of the vehicle, equipment or object or contrivance; or as a result of operating, driving, or moving any vehicle, equipment, object, or contrivance weighing in excess of the maximum weight permitted by statute or this code. When the driver is not the owner of the vehicle, equipment, object, or contrivance, but is operating, driving, or moving it with the express or implied permission of the owner, then the owner and the driver shall be jointly and severally liable for any such damage. Any person who willfully acts or fails to exercise due care and by that act damages any public property shall be liable for the amount thereof, which amount shall be collectable by action or as a lien under M.S. § 514.67, as it may be amended from time to time.
   (H)   Assessment. On or before October 31 of each year, the City Clerk/Treasurer shall list the total unpaid charges for each type of current service and charges under this section against each separate lot or parcel to which they are attributable under this section. The City Council may then spread the charges against property benefitted as a special assessment under the authority of M.S. § 429.101, as it may be amended from time to time, and other pertinent statutes for certification to the County Auditor and collection along with current taxes the following year or in annual installments, not exceeding ten, as the City Council may determine in each case.
§ 94.02 TREE DISEASES.
   (A)   Trees constituting nuisance declared. The following are public nuisances whenever they may be found within the city:
      (1)   Any living or standing elm tree or part thereof infected to any degree with the Dutch Elm disease fungus Ceratocystis Ulmi (Buisman) Moreau or which harbors any of the elm bark beetles Scolytus Multistriatus (Eichh.) or Hylungopinus Rufipes (Marsh);
      (2)   Any dead elm tree or part thereof, including branches, stumps, firewood, or other elm material from which the bark has not been removed and burned or sprayed with an effective elm bark beetle insecticide;
      (3)   Any living or standing oak tree or part thereof infected to any degree with the Oak Wilt fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum;
      (4)   Any dead oak tree or part thereof which in the opinion of the designated officer constitutes a hazard, including but not limited to logs, branches, stumps, roots, firewood, or other oak material which has not been stripped of its bark and burned or sprayed with an effective fungicide; and
      (5)   Any other shade tree with an epidemic disease.
   (B)   Abatement of nuisance. It is unlawful for any person to permit any public nuisance as defined in division (A) of this section to remain on any premises the person owns or controls within the city. The nuisance may be abated as provided in §§ 94.22 and 94.23.
   (C)   Record of costs. The City Clerk/Treasurer shall keep a record of the costs of abatement done under this section for all work done for which assessments are to be made, stating and certifying the description of the land, lots, parcels involved, and the amount chargeable to each.
   (D)   Unpaid charges. On or before October 31 of each year, the City Clerk/Treasurer shall list the total unpaid charges for each abatement against each separate lot or parcel to which they are attributable under this section. The City Council may then spread the charges or any portion thereof against the property involved as a special assessment as authorized by M.S. § 429.101, as it may be amended from time to time, and other pertinent statutes for certification to the County Auditor and collection the following year along with the current taxes.
NUISANCES
§ 94.15 PUBLIC NUISANCE.
   Whoever by his or her act or failure to perform a legal duty intentionally does any of the following is guilty of maintaining a public nuisance, which is a misdemeanor:
   (A)   Maintains or permits a condition which unreasonably annoys, injures or endangers the safety, health, morals, comfort, or repose of any considerable number of members of the public;
   (B)   Interferes with, obstructs or renders dangerous for passage any public highway or right-of-way, or waters used by the public; or
   (C)   Is guilty of any other act or omission declared by law or §§ 94.16, 94.17, or 94.18, or any other part of this code to be a public nuisance and for which no sentence is specifically provided.
§ 94.16 PUBLIC NUISANCES AFFECTING HEALTH.
   The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting health:
   (A)   Exposed accumulation of decayed or unwholesome food or vegetable matter;
   (B)   All diseased animals running at large;
   (C)   All ponds or pools of stagnant water;
   (D)   Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within 24 hours after death;
   (E)   Accumulations of manure, refuse or other debris;
   (F)   Privy vaults and garbage cans which are not rodent-free or fly-tight or which are so maintained as to constitute a health hazard or to emit foul and disagreeable odors;
   (G)   The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream or lake, canal or body of water by sewage, industrial waste or other substances;
   (H)   All noxious weeds and other rank growths of vegetation upon public or private property;
   (I)   Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas and soot, or cinders, in unreasonable quantities;
   (J)   All public exposure of people having a contagious disease; and
   (K)   Any offensive trade or business as defined by statute not operating under local license.
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