The Director of Public Service is authorized to inspect any tree within this City reported or supposed to be infected with the Dutch elm disease or the virus disease Phloem Necrosis, commonly known as elm blight, and to employ any person qualified to diagnose such diseases, such as the City Forester of Cleveland, or any other person employed in a similar capacity by the state or federal governments, or to determine the existence thereof to assist him in the inspection, at a cost of not to exceed fifteen dollars ($15.00) in any case.
If upon such inspection the Director of Public Service determines that the tree is infected with either of the diseases, he shall, if the tree is in any public street, ground or place within this City, immediately remove and dispose of the same in a manner as to prevent as fully as possible the spread of the disease. If the tree is located on private property, the Director of Public Service shall immediately serve upon the owner of such property a written notice that the tree is so infected and that the same must be removed and disposed of under the supervision of the Director of Public Service within five days of the service of the notice. If the owner cannot be found, a copy of the notice shall be posted upon the infected tree. If the tree is not so removed and disposed of within five days after the service or posting of the notice, the Director of Public Service shall cause the tree to be so removed and disposed of. The cost of the removal and disposal shall be reported to the owner of the property, if he can be found, and also to Council, and if the cost is not paid within thirty days of the report, Council may assess the same as in other cases of the abatement of nuisances.
(Ord. 1977-68. Passed 6-7-77.)