(A) If the Director is required to cause the abatement of a public nuisance pursuant to the provisions of § 95.09, he or she shall keep an accounting of the cost thereof, including incidental expenses for the abatement. The term incidental expenses includes, but is not limited to, the actual expenses and costs of the city in the preparation of notices, specifications and contracts, inspection of the work, and the costs of printing and mailings required by this chapter. The term incidental expenses shall also include the recovery of attorneys fees in any action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding to abate the nuisance, provided, however, that attorneys' fees shall be recoverable only if the city elected upon initiation of the action to seek such recovery, in which case, attorneys' fees will be payable to the prevailing party in such action. For purposes of this section, the city shall be deemed the prevailing party if it prevails on at least one claim of nuisance brought in connection with the proceeding. Upon conclusion of the abatement, the Director shall submit an itemized statement of costs to the Chief Executive Officer.
(B) The Chief Executive Officer shall set a time and place for his or her consideration of the report and any objections or protests, and shall cause notice of the time and place of said hearing to be given to the owner(s) of the property to which the report relates by first class, United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the owner(s) at the address shown on the latest equalized assessment roll. Such notice shall be mailed at least five business days in advance of the scheduled hearing date. Mailed notice of said hearing shall also be given to any other interested person who has filed a written request for the same, at the address on such request.
(C) At the time and place fixed for consideration of the report, the Chief Executive Officer shall hear and pass upon the report of the Director, together with any objections or protests raised by any of the persons liable to be assessed for the cost of abating the nuisance. Upon conclusion of said hearing, the Chief Executive Officer shall make such revision, correction or modification to the report as he or she may deem just, after which the report as submitted, or as revised, corrected or modified, shall be confirmed. The hearing may be continued from time to time. The decision of the Chief Executive Officer shall be final.
(D) The cost of abatement as so confirmed shall be a personal obligation of the owner(s) of the property on which the nuisance was maintained. The cost of abatement as so confirmed shall also be a lien against the property as set forth in § 95.11 or a special assessment against the property as set forth in § 95.12.
(Ord. 1281, passed 3-1-06)