(A) Definition. For the purpose of this chapter, the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
CURRENT SERVICE. One or more of the following: snow, ice or rubbish removal from sidewalks; weed elimination from street grass plots adjacent to sidewalks or from private property; removal or elimination of public health or safety hazards from private property, excluding any hazardous building, included in M.S. §§ 463.15 through 463.261, as they may amended from time to time; installation or repair of water service lines; street sprinkling, street flushing, light street oiling or other dust treatment of streets; repair of sidewalks and alleys; trimming and care of trees and removal of unsound and insect-infected trees from the public streets or private property; and the operation of a street lighting system.
(B) Snow, ice, dirt and rubbish.
(1) Duty of owners and occupants. The owner and the occupant of any property adjacent to a public sidewalk shall use diligence to keep the walk safe for pedestrians. No owner or occupant shall allow snow, ice, dirt or rubbish to remain on the walk longer than 24 hours after its deposit thereon. Failure to comply with this section shall constitute a violation.
(2) Removal by city. The City Clerk or other person designated by the City Council may cause removal from all public sidewalks all snow, ice, dirt and rubbish as soon as possible beginning 24 hours after any matter has been deposited thereon or after the snow has ceased to fall. The City Clerk or other designated person shall keep a record showing the cost of removal adjacent to each separate lot and parcel.
(C) Public health and safety hazards. When the city removes or eliminates public health or safety hazards from private property under the following provisions of this chapter, the administrative officer responsible for doing the work shall keep a record of the cost of the removal or elimination against each parcel of property affected and annually deliver that information to the City Clerk.
(D) Installation and repair of water service lines. Whenever the city installs or repairs water service lines serving private property, the City Clerk shall keep a record of the total cost of the installation or repair against the property.
(E) Repair of sidewalks and alleys.
(1) Duty of owner. The owner of any property within the city abutting a public sidewalk or alley shall keep the sidewalk or alley in repair and safe for pedestrians. Repairs shall be made in accordance with the standard specifications approved by the City Council and on file in the office of the City Clerk.
(2) Inspections; notice. The City Council or its designee shall make inspections as are necessary to determine that public sidewalks and alleys within the city are kept in repair and safe for pedestrians or vehicles. If it is found that any sidewalk or alley abutting on private property is unsafe and in need of repairs, the City Council shall cause a notice to be served, by registered or certified mail or by personal service, upon the record owner of the property, ordering the owner to have the sidewalk or alley repaired and made safe within 30 days and stating that if the owner fails to do so, the city will do so and that the expense thereof must be paid by the owner, and if unpaid it will be made a special assessment against the property concerned.
(3) Repair by city. If the sidewalk or alley is not repaired within 30 days after receipt of the notice, the City Clerk shall report the facts to the City Council and the City Council shall by resolution order the work done by contract in accordance with law. The City Clerk shall keep a record of the total cost of the repair attributable to each lot or parcel of property.
(F) Personal liability. The owner of property on which or adjacent to which a current service has been performed shall be personally liable for the cost of the service. As soon as the service has been completed and the cost determined, the City Clerk or other designated official shall prepare a bill and mail it to the owner and thereupon the amount shall be immediately due and payable at the office of the City Clerk.
(G) Damage to public property.
(1) Any person driving any vehicle, equipment, object or contrivance upon any street, road, highway or structure shall be liable for all damages which the surface or structure thereof may sustain as a result of any illegal operation, or driving or moving of the vehicle, equipment or object or contrivance; or as a result of operating, driving or moving any vehicle, equipment, object or contrivance weighing in excess of the maximum weight permitted by statute or this code. When the driver is not the owner of the vehicle, equipment, object or contrivance, but is operating, driving or moving it with the express or implied permission of the owner, then the owner and the driver shall be jointly and severally liable for any damage.
(2) Any person who willfully acts or fails to exercise due care and by that act damages any public property shall be liable for the amount thereof, which amount shall be collectable by action or as a lien under M.S. § 514.67, as it may be amended from time to time.
(H) Assessment. On or before September 1 of each year, the City Clerk shall list the total unpaid charges for each type of current service and charges under this section against each separate lot or parcel to which they are attributable under this section. The City Council may then spread the charges against property benefitted as a special assessment under the authority of M.S. § 429.101 as it may be amended from time to time and other pertinent statutes for certification to the county auditor and collection along with current taxes the following year or in annual installments, not exceeding ten, as the City Council may determine in each case.
(Ord. 2005-4, passed 9-26-2005) Penalty § 10.99
(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 to 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; or
(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 the hearing or adjournment thereof, the City Council shall hear any property owner with reference to the scope and desirability of the proposed project. The City Council shall thereafter adopt a resolution confirming the original resolution with 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 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 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 collection the following year along with the current taxes.
(Ord. 2005-4, passed 9-26-2005) Penalty § 10.99
Statutory reference:
Plant protection and export certification, see M.S. §§ 18G.01 et seq.
(A) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to protect the public safety, health and welfare and to prevent and abate repeat service response calls by the city to the same property or location for nuisance service calls, as defined herein, which prevalent police or public safety services to other residents of the city. It is the intent of the city by the adoption of this section to impose and collect service call fees from the owner or occupant, or both, of property to which city officials must repeatedly respond for any repeat nuisance event or activity that generates extraordinary costs to the city. The repeat nuisance service call fee is intended to cover that cost over and above the cost of providing normal law or code enforcement services and police protection city wide.
(B) Scope and application. This section shall apply to all owners and occupants of private property that is the subject, or location of, the repeat nuisance service call by the city. This section shall apply to any repeat nuisance service calls as set forth herein made by a peace officer, part-time peace officer, community service officer, animal control officers and code enforcement technicians.
(C) Definition of nuisance call or similar conduct. The term NUISANCE SERVICE CALL shall mean any activity, conduct, or condition occurring upon private property within the city which:
(1) Unreasonably annoys, injures or endangers the safety, health, morals, comfort or repose of any member of the public;
(2) Or will, or will tend to, alarm, anger or disturb others or provoke breach of the peace, to which the city is required to respond, including, but not limited to the following:
(a) Any activity, conduct, or condition deemed as a public nuisance under any provision of the city code;
(b) Any activity, conduct, or condition in violation of any provision of the zoning regulations;
(c) Any conduct, activity or condition constituting a violation of Minnesota State laws prohibiting or regulating prostitution, gambling, controlled substances, use of firearms; and
(d) Any conduct, activity, or condition constituting disorderly conduct under M.S. Chapter 609, as it may be amended from time to time.
(D) Repeat nuisance service call fee. The city may impose a repeat nuisance service call fee upon the owner or occupant of private property if the city has rendered services or responded to the property on three or more occasions within a period of 365 days in response to or for the abatement of nuisance conduct, activity, or condition of the same or similar kind. The repeat nuisance service call fee under this section shall be an amount as set forth in the current city fee schedule. All repeat nuisance service call fees imposed and charged against the owner or occupant under this section shall be deemed delinquent 30 days after the city’s mailing a billing statement therefore. Delinquent payments are subject to a 10% late penalty of the amount due.
(E) Notice. No repeat nuisance service call fee may be imposed against an owner or occupant of property without first providing the owner or occupant with written notice of the prior nuisance service calls prior to the latest nuisance service call rendered by the city upon which the fee is imposed. The written notice shall:
(1) State the nuisance conduct, activity or condition that is or has occurred or is maintained or permitted on the property, the dates of the nuisance conduct, activity or condition;
(2) State that the owner or occupant may be subject to a repeat nuisance call service fee if a third nuisance service call is rendered to the property for the same nuisance, in addition to the city’s right to seek other legal remedies or actions for abatement of the nuisance or compliance with the law; and
(3) Be served personally or by U.S. mail upon the owner or occupant at the last known address.
(F) Right to appeal nuisance service call fee.
(1) Upon the imposition of a repeat nuisance service call fee, the city shall inform the owner or occupant of his or her right to a hearing on the alleged repeat nuisance service calls. The owner or occupant upon whom the fee is imposed may request a hearing by serving upon the City Clerk within five business days of the mailing of the fee invoice, inclusive of the day the invoice is mailed, a written request for hearing. The matter shall be heard by the hearing office within 14 days of the date of the owner’s or occupant’s request for hearing.
(2) The hearing shall be conducted in an informal manner and the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure and Rules of Evidence shall not be strictly applied. The hearing need not be transcribed, but may be transcribed at the sole expense of the party who requests the transcription. After considering all evidence submitted, the hearing officer shall make written findings of fact and conclusions on the issue of whether the city responded to or rendered services for repeat nuisance service calls of the same or similar kind on three or more occasions within a 365-day period. The findings and conclusions shall be served upon the owner or occupant by U.S. mail within five days of the notice of hearing.
(3) An owner’s or occupant’s right to a hearing shall be deemed waived if the owner or occupant fails to serve a written request for hearing as required herein or fails to appear at the scheduled hearing date. Upon waiver of the right to hearing, or upon the hearing officer’s written findings of fact and conclusions that the repeat nuisance call service fee is warranted hereunder, the owner or occupant shall immediately pay the fee imposed.
(G) Legal remedies nonexclusive. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the city’s other available legal remedies for any violation of the law which may constitute a nuisance service call hereunder, including criminal, civil, injunctive or others.
(Ord. 2005-4, passed 9-26-2005)