(A) Complaint. Upon receiving a complaint of any environmental public nuisance, or upon otherwise discovering such a public nuisance, the Town Manager (or a duly authorized employee or agent of the town) shall issue a notice to abate to the owner(s) of record of the property containing the environmental public nuisance.
(B) Notice to abate. The Town Manager or other duly authorized employee or agent of the town shall cause a written notice to abate to be served upon the owner(s) of the property in question as set forth herein, granting such owner(s) a minimum of five calendar days in which to remove the environmental nuisance, in addition to serving the notice in compliance with division (C) below, a “notice” placard shall be conspicuously posted on the subject property. Such notice to abate shall contain the following information: the address of the property containing the violation, the date of the notice, the nature of the violation, and a warning that the town through its agent(s) or contractor(s) will enter onto the property to abate the violation if the owner fails to abate the violation by a specific date not less than five calendar days after mailing/posting of the notice. The notice shall also contain a warning that if the town acts to abate the nuisance, the town will place a lien against the property to secure repayment of the actual costs involved in the removal of the nuisance and any penalties assessed.
(C) Service of notice.
(1) Initial notice. The first notice issued with regards to a property in a calendar year shall be served upon the owner of the property by certified mail or first-class mail, or by an equivalent service as permitted by I.C. 1-1-7-1. If the property has more than one owner, service need only be made on one of the owners of the property. Any notice served under this division (C) shall be served by mailing the notice to the last address of the owner for the property as indicated in the records of the County Auditor on the date of the notice.
(2) Notice of continuous abatement. The town, at its option, may serve a notice to abate pursuant to division (C)(1) above with regard to each violation of this subchapter. However, whenever the town takes action to abate a nuisance after having first served a notice of abatement as set forth in division (C)(1) above, the town may, at the time of abatement, post a continuous abatement notice. A continuous abatement notice contains the following information: the address of the property in question, a statement that the town has abated a violation to this subchapter occurring on the property, a warning that the town, through its agents or contractors, may enter onto the property to abate any violation of this subchapter that occurs during the same calendar year in which the initial notice of abatement was provided, a statement that the owner shall be responsible for costs incurred by the town in abating the nuisance, and a warning that a lien will be placed against the property to secure repayment of the costs incurred in connection with the abatement. After the town has posted a continuous abatement notice, the town, through its agents and contractors, may enter onto the property to abate subsequent violations of this subchapter which occur in the same calendar year as the initial notice without mailing notice to the property owner(s) or posting additional notice.
(D) Inspection. Following the expiration of the notice to abate, the Town Manager or an authorized agent shall visually inspect the property to determine whether an environmental public nuisance exists. Action shall be taken to abate any remaining nuisance.
(Ord. 2017-03, passed 3-23-2017)