(A) Removal by owners; failure; removal by town; charges; lien; collection. The owners of any property within the town shall remove trash, garbage, refuse, filth and other substances which might endanger the health of other residents of the town from the property at intervals to be designated by the Town Council, and upon their failure to do so the Town Manager may have the trash, garbage and the like removed and may charge the owner with the cost of the removal. Every charge authorized by this section with which the owner of the property shall have been assessed, which remains unpaid, shall constitute a lien against the property and may be collected by the town as taxes and levies are collected.
(B) Notice to owner; failure to remove; additional notice containing deadline; removal by Manager; costs. Reasonable notice of the date fixed by the Council for the removal of the trash, garbage and the like shall be given by newspaper publication, mail or by delivery of a written notice to each property owner. Upon the failure of the property owner to remove the trash, garbage and the like by the date fixed, the Town Manager shall notify the property owner by certified mail that he or she has 15 days from the date of the notice to remove the trash, garbage and the like and that upon his or her failure to so remove the same the Town Manager shall have the same removed and shall charge the costs to the owner.
(C) Bill for costs after removal; failure to pay; perfection of lien; recording of lien; collection procedures. Upon the completion of the removal the Town Manager shall send by certified mail to the owner a bill for the costs of the removal, with the notation thereon that the charges are collectible by the town as taxes and levies, and that failure to pay the bill within 60 days of the date of the bill will result in a lien being perfected against the property and the institution of other collection procedures. Upon the owner’s failure to pay the bill by the date set thereon the Town Manager shall perfect the lien by recording the lien in the Clerk’s office of the County Circuit Court and may, pursuant to law, institute collection procedures as he or she may deem necessary.
(1997 Code, § 38-57)
Statutory reference:
Removal of trash, garbage and the like from property, see VA Code, § 15.2-901