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The notice shall state that the owner is required to abate the nuisance and that if the nuisance is not abated by the date specified therein, the City or its contractor may enter upon the parcel of land and remove or otherwise eliminate or abate the nuisance; that upon completion of such work, the cost thereof, including administrative costs, shall become a special assessment against that parcel; and that upon City Council confirmation of the assessment and recordation of that order, a lien shall attach to the parcel to be collected on the next regular property tax bill levied against the parcel.
In the event the nuisance is not removed or otherwise eliminated or abated by the date specified in the notice, the City or its contractor may enter upon the parcel and remove or eliminate the nuisance. The City department which causes the nuisance to be abated shall bill the owner of record for the cost of removal, or other elimination or abatement thereof, including administrative costs. Such administrative costs shall be determined and established in the same manner as provided for in Section 57.106.7. An itemized written report showing the date and cost of abatement work done by the City or its contractor, together with a proposed assessment with respect to the parcel involved, shall be submitted by said department to the Board of Fire Commissioners, hereinafter sometimes referred to as the “Board,” for its consideration.
The Board shall thereupon cause a written notice to be mailed to each owner of record. The notice shall identify the property in question and shall state that:
1. A nuisance, as identified in the notice, has been abated on the property;
2. A bill setting forth the cost of abatement has been mailed to the owner and a copy of the report setting forth the cost of abatement will be available for inspection at a specified location;
3. The City proposes to assess the owner for the cost of abatement; and
4. There will be a public hearing with respect to the proposed assessment and the amount thereof at the time, date and location designated in the notice.
The owner may appear before a hearing examiner at the time, date and location specified in the notice or may request to appear at an alternate later time and/or date, and may appear at that alternate time and/or date if so designated by the hearing examiner. Upon any such appearance, the owner will be given the opportunity to present evidence to show cause why the property should not be assessed for the cost of abatement or not be assessed in the amount specified in the bill.
Any written objections to the proposed assessment, and/or requests for an alternate hearing date, submitted to the hearing examiner must identify therein the parcel of property proposed to be assessed. The notice, or copy thereof, may, but need not, be used for that purpose and in the event the hearing examiner agrees to an alternate time or date for the owner’s appearance, the Department will notify the owner as to that alternate time and/or date. Written objections to the proposed assessment may be submitted to the hearing examiner, but must be submitted prior to the commencement of the scheduled hearing.
On the date specified in the notice or on any date thereafter to which continued, the Board of Fire Commissioners, or its designee, shall act as the City’s hearing examiner and shall conduct a hearing, consider the report setting forth the cost of abatement, receive testimony from Department personnel and others with respect to the existence of a nuisance and cost of abatement, and consider the testimony and other evidence of property owners who appear at the hearing.
After the hearing has been closed, the hearing examiner shall prepare a report and proposed decision to be presented to the City Council based upon all of the evidence presented at the hearing. The report shall identify and include the name and mailing address of the owner of each parcel from which a nuisance was abated and for which a notice of hearing and proposed assessment had been given. The hearing examiner shall include its findings, conclusions, recommendations and proposed decision in its report to the Council with respect to each parcel, and whether the proposed assessment should be:
1. Confirmed in the amount set forth in the notice;
2. Disallowed; or
3. Confirmed in an amount less than that set forth in the notice.
In each event, the hearing examiner shall include the reasons for its recommendations. The report shall fairly and accurately represent the hearing proceedings, including the objections and other testimony of each party who appeared at the hearing and the hearing examiner’s evaluation thereof. Upon adoption of the report by the Board, as hearing examiner, or concurrence in the report by the Board if the duly appointed hearing examiner was other than the Board, the report and proposed decision with respect to contested proposed assessments, as well as the Board’s recommendations and report with respect to all other proposed assessments, shall be transmitted to the City Clerk’s office for placement upon the Council calendar not less than 15 days after its receipt. The proposed decision in each such event shall be in such form that it may be amended as the decision of the City Council. If the hearing was conducted by other than the Board, and after a review of the report the Board does not concur with the recommendations therein, the Board may refer the matter back to the hearing examiner for further review, and a hearing if necessary, or the Board may conduct a hearing de novo as the hearing examiner, after due notice, and prepare its own decision and recommendations for Council consideration.
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