(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 City Council may by resolution order the nuisance abated. Before action is taken on that resolution, the City Council shall publish notice of its intention to meet to consider taking action to abate the nuisance. This notice shall be mailed to the affected property owner and published once no less than one week prior to the meeting. The notice shall state the time and place of the meeting, the street affected, action proposed, the estimated cost of the abatement, and the proposed basis of assessment, if any, of costs. At such hearing or adjournment thereof, the City Council shall hear any property owner with reference to the scope and desirability of the proposed modifications as it considers desirable and provide for the doing of the work by day labor or by contract.
(C) Record of costs. The City Clerk-Administrator 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 September 1 of each year, the City Clerk-Administrator 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 collected the following year along with the current taxes.
(Ord. 300, passed 6-7-2022)