(A) In the event that any person owning or occupying any lot, tract or parcel of property within the city including the premises located between the sidewalk and roadway fails to perform his or her duty to cut or remove dirt, rubbish, debris, weeds, brush, trees, plan growth, filth, grass or any other deleterious material therefrom, as required in § 91.025, the Mayor, Chief of Police, Code Enforcement Officer or his or her authorized representative shall give or cause to be given in writing to any person owning or occupying such lot, land or property, notice to remove such dirt, rubbish, debris, weeds, brush, trees, plant growth, filth, grass or any other deleterious material from such lot or parcel of land, within 72 hours from the date of the serving, mailing, posting or publication of the notice provided for herein.
(B) Unless within 72 hours provided for in division (A) above, the dirt, rubbish, debris, weeds, brush, trees, plant growth, filth grass or other deleterious material is removed from such lot, land or property as directed by such notice, the Mayor or the Chief of Police, or his or her duly-appointed representative, shall have the option to either:
(1) Cause a citation and/or warrant to be issued against any person owning or occupying such lot, tract or parcel of land; and/or
(2) Cause the same to be removed by the agents or employees of the city, or otherwise as he or she may decide, in which event the Code Enforcement Officer shall report the cost of cutting and removal to the City Clerk, who shall immediately cause to be mailed a bill, voucher, or statement of such cost to the person owning or occupying such lot, land or property and the bill, voucher or statement shall be due within ten days of the date of date of mailing the bill, voucher or statement. If payment for such bill, voucher or statement is not made to the city within 30 days of the mailing of the same, the city may place a lien on the violator’s property in the amount of the unpaid bill, voucher or statement. If agents or employees of the city are required to cut and remove the dirt, rubbish, debris, weeds, brush, trees, plant growth, filth, grass or other deleterious material from such lot, land or property, the city shall charge a fee of $100 per hour for every hour or portion of an hour that agents or employees of the city were utilized to complete the cutting and removal of said materials.
(C) The notice referred to in division (A) above shall be sufficient and shall be deemed to have been given when a written notice is delivered in person to the owner or occupant, or deposited in the United States mail addressed to the owner or occupant at his or her last known address or by posting notice in a conspicuous place on the property which is reasonably calculated to give notice to the property owner, or by any of the methods prescribed for the service of process issued by the Clerk of a Circuit Court of the state.
(D) No error in the name of the property owner, the description of the property nor in the materials designated to be cut and removed shall affect the validity of any such notice, provided that from the description of such lot, land or property, the identity thereof may be established within reasonable certainty.
(E) The payment of the amount so chargeable to the owner shall not relieve him or her of any fine imposed under the provisions of this subchapter or constitute a defense against any violation of the provisions of this section. Each day of failure to comply with the provisions of this section after 72 hours’ notice to do so, shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
(Ord. O-017, passed 6-17-2004; Ord. 177, passed 3-6-2014; Ord. 222, passed 9-15-2016)