(A) Ice and snow a nuisance. All snow and ice remaining upon public sidewalks and trails is hereby declared to constitute a public nuisance and shall be abated by the owner or tenant of the abutting private property within 24 hours after the snow or ice has ceased to be deposited. The owner or tenant shall provide a minimum four feet of clearance on the sidewalk or trail adjacent to their property.
(B) City to remove snow and ice; property owner to be billed. The city may cause to be removed from all public sidewalks and trails, beginning 24 hours after snow or ice has ceased to fall, all snow or ice which may be discovered thereon, and it shall keep a record of the cost of that removal and the private property adjacent to which accumulations were found and removed. The owner of the property from which the accumulations were removed shall be invoiced for payment of those services in the same manner of all city invoices for services.
(C) Cost of removal to be assessed. Should the bill for removal services remain unpaid, the City Administrator shall, upon direction of the Council and on receipt of the infonnation provided for in division (B) above, extend the cost of the removal of snow or ice as a special assessment against the lots or parcel of ground abutting on walks which were cleared, and these special assessments shall at the time of certifying taxes to the County Auditor be certified for collection as other special assessments are certified and collected.
(D) Civil suit for cost of removal. The City Administrator shall, in the alternative, upon direction of the Council, bring suit in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover from the persons owning land adjacent to which sidewalks and trails were cleared, as provided in division (B) above, the cost of the clearing and the cost and disbursement of a civil action therefor.
(E) City Administrator to report sidewalks cleared. The City Administrator shall present to the Council at its first meeting after snow or ice has been cleared from the sidewalks as provided in division (B) above the report of the city thereon, and shall request the Council to determine by resolution the manner of collection to be used as provided in division (C) or (D) above.
(Ord. 18-0783, passed 6-26-2018; Ord. 19-796, passed 3-26-2019)