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§ 93.01 ASSESSABLE CURRENT SERVICES.
   (A)   Definition. For the purpose of this section, 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 463.26, as they may be 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 person designated by the 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 designated person shall keep a record showing the cost of the removal adjacent to each separate lot and parcel.
   (C)   (1)   Weeds as a nuisance. Any weeds, whether noxious, as defined by law, or not, growing upon any lot or parcel of land outside the traveled portion of any street or alley in the city to a greater height than 12 inches or which have gone or are about to go to seed are a nuisance. The owner and the occupant shall abate or prevent the nuisance on the property and on land outside the traveled portion of the street or alley abutting on the property.
      (2)   Notice. On or before June 1 of each year and at other times as ordered by resolution of the City Council, the City Clerk shall publish once in the official newspaper a notice directing owners and occupants of property within the city to destroy all weeds declared by division (C)(1) of this section to be a nuisance and stating that if not so destroyed within ten days after publication of the notice, the weeds will be destroyed by city employees at the expense of the owner and that if not paid, the charge for the work will be made a special assessment against the property concerned.
      (3)   Removal by city. If the owner or occupant of any property in the city fails to comply with the notice within ten days after its publication, city employees may cut and remove the weeds. The City Clerk shall keep a record showing the cost of the work attributable to each separate lot and parcel.
   (D)   Public health and safety hazards. When the city removes or eliminates public health or safety hazards from private property under city ordinance, 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 the information to the City Clerk.
   (E)   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.
   (F)   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. 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.
   (G)   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 Clerk, or other designated official, shall prepare a bill and mail it to the owner. The amount shall be immediately due and payable at the office of the Clerk.
   (H)   Damage to public property. 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 so operating, driving or moving the same with the express or implied permission of the owner, then the owner and the driver shall be jointly and severally liable for any damage. 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.
   (I)   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 M.S. § 429.01 and other pertinent statutes, as they may be amended from time to time, 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.
Cross-reference:
   Streets and Sidewalks, see Chapter 94
§ 93.02 TREE DISEASES.
   (A)   Declaration of policy. The City Council determines that the health of the elm and oak trees within the city is threatened by fatal diseases known as Dutch Elm and Oak Wilt diseases, and other trees may be threatened by other epidemic diseases of shade trees. The City Council further determines that the loss of elm, oak and other trees growing upon public and private property would substantially depreciate the value of property within the city and impair the safety, good order, general welfare and convenience of the public. It is declared to be the intention of the City Council to control and prevent the spread of those diseases and this section is enacted for that purpose.
   (B)   Designated enforcement officer. It shall be the duty of the officer designated by the City Council to coordinate, under the direction and control of the City Council, all activities of the city relating to the control and prevention of Dutch Elm disease and Oak Wilt disease and other epidemic diseases of shade trees. The officer shall recommend to the City Council the details of a program for the control of the diseases, and perform the duties incident to a program adopted by the City Council.
   (C)   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 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.
   (D)   Inspection and investigation. As often as practical, the designated officer shall inspect all public and private premises within the city which might harbor any plant pest, as defined in M.S. § 18.46 (13), as it may be amended from time to time, to determine whether any condition described in division (C) of this section exists thereon. The designated officer shall investigate all reported incidents of infestation of Dutch Elm fungus, elm bark beetles, Oak Wilt fungus or any other epidemic disease of shade trees.
   (E)   Entry on private premises. The designated officer or his or her duly authorized agents may enter upon private premises at any reasonable time for the purpose of carrying out any of the duties assigned under this section.
   (F)   Abatement of nuisance. It is unlawful for any person to permit any public nuisance, as defined in division (C) of this section, to remain on any premises the person owns or controls within the city. The nuisances may be abated in the manner prescribed by this section. In abating a nuisance, defined in division (C) of this section, the designated officer shall cause the infected tree or wood to be sprayed, removed, burned or otherwise effectively treated so as to destroy and prevent as fully as possible the spread of epidemic diseases such as Dutch Elm disease and Oak Wilt disease. The designated officer shall also take other steps as are necessary to prevent root graft transmission of the diseases. The abatement procedures shall be carried out in accordance with current technical and expert opinions and plans as may be designated by the Commissioner of Agriculture.
   (G)   Procedure for removal of infected trees and wood.
      (1)   Action by the designated officer. Whenever the designated officer finds with reasonable certainty that the infestation, defined in division (C), exists in any trees or wood in any public or private place in the city, the designated officer shall in writing notify the owner of the existence of a nuisance, which notice shall state that the owner has 60 days to abate the nuisance and avoid city action. A copy of the notice shall be transmitted to the City Clerk for the information of the City Council. If within the 60-day period the property owner has not abated the nuisance, the designated officer shall report all the facts surrounding the unabated nuisance to the City Council.
      (2)   Action by the City Council.
         (a)   Upon receipt of the designated officer’s report required in division (G)(1) of this section, the City Council shall by resolution order the nuisance abated. Before action is taken on the 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 affected property owners and published once no less than one week prior to the meeting. The notice shall state the time and place of the meeting, the streets affected, action proposed, the estimated cost of the abatement and the proposed basis of assessment, if any, of costs.
         (b)   At the hearing or adjournment thereof, the City Council shall hear property owners with reference to the scope and desirability of the proposed project.
         (c)   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.
      (3)   Record. The designated officer shall keep a record of the costs of abatement done under this section and shall report monthly to the City Clerk or other appropriate officer 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.
      (4)   Assessment. 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 under M.S. § 429.101 and other pertinent statutes, as they may be amended from time to time, for certification to the County Auditor and collection the following year along with the current taxes.
   (H)   Interference prohibited. It is unlawful for any person to prevent, delay or interfere with the designated officer or his or her agents while they are engaged in the performance of duties imposed by this section. However, it is a defense to prosecution under this division that the interference alleged consisted of constitutionally protected speech only.
§ 93.03 OPEN BURNING.
   (A)   Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
   BURNING PERMIT. A permit issued by the City Fire Marshal authorizing fires exempted from the general provisions hereof, and setting conditions therefore.
   CAMP FIRE. A fire set for cooking, warming or ceremonial purposes, which is not more than three feet in diameter by three feet high, and has had the ground five feet from the base of the fire cleared of all combustible material.
   OPEN FIRE or OPEN BURNING. A fire burning in matter, whether concentrated or dispersed, which is not contained within a fully enclosed fire box, structure or vehicle, and from which the products of combustion are emitted directly to the open atmosphere without passing through a stack, duct or chimney.
   PERSON. As defined in M.S. § 116.06(8), as it may be amended from time to time.
   RECREATION FIRE. See CAMP FIRE.
      (1)   RECREATION FIRE BURN. When a camp fire is used for recreation purposes, it must be ignited with an approved starter fluid using, dry clean wood, producing little detectable smoke, odor or soot beyond the property line, conducted with an adult tending the fire at all times, extinguished completely before quitting the occasion, and respecting weather conditions, neighbors, burning bans and air quality so the threat of nuisance health or safety hazards will not be created. Mobile cooking devices such as manufactured hibachis, charcoal grills, wood smokers and propane or natural gas devices are not defined as camp or recreation fires.
      (2)   RECREATION FIRE SITE. An area of no more than a three-foot diameter circle (measured from the inside of the fire ring or border) completely surrounded by non-combustible and non- smoke or odor producing material, either of natural rock, cement, brick, tile or block of ferrous metal only and which area is depressed below ground, on the ground or on a raised block. Included are permanent outdoor wood burning fire places. RECREATION FIRE SITES shall not be located closer than 15 feet to any structure. Burners are not a RECREATION FIRE SITE, as defined herein.
   STARTER FUELS. Dry, untreated, unpainted wood or charcoal fire starter. Paraffin candles and alcohols are permitted as starter fuels and as aids to ignition only. Propane gas torches or other clean gas burning devices causing minimal pollution must be used to start an open fire.
   WOOD. Dry, clean fuel only such as twigs, branches, limbs, “presto logs,” charcoal, cordwood or untreated dimensional lumber. WOOD does not include wood that is green, with leaves or needles, rotten, wet, coil soaked or treated with paint, glue or preservatives. Clean pallets may be used for recreation fires when cut into three foot lengths.
   (B)   Open burning prohibited. From and after the effective date of this section, except as herein otherwise provided, open burning shall be prohibited within the city.
   (C)   Exemptions. Open burning of the types, and subject to the conditions, as hereinafter stated, shall be exempt from the prohibition of division (B) above.
      (1)   Recreational fires;
      (2)   Fires under managed supervision for which a burning permit has been obtained from the City Fire Marshal and, where required by state law, from the Department of Natural Resources, but limited to the following:
         (a)   Fires purposely set for the instruction and training of public and industrial fire fighting personnel;
         (b)   Fires set for the elimination of a fire hazard which cannot be abated by any other practicable means;
         (c)   Fires purposely set for forest and game management purposes; and
         (d)   The burning of trees, brush, grass and other vegetable matter in the clearing of land, the maintenance of street, road and highway right-of-way, and in accepted agricultural land management practices.
      (3)   An exception to conduct fires under this section does not excuse a person from the consequences, damages or injuries which may result therefrom nor does it exempt any person from regulations promulgated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency or any other governmental unit exercising jurisdiction in matters of pollution or fire hazard regulation.
   (D)   Rules adopted by reference. M.S. §§ 88.02 through 88.22, 88.75 and 88.76 and the Minnesota Uniform Fire Code, as they may be amended from time to time, are hereby adopted by reference and made a part of this section as if fully set forth at this point.
(Ord. 84, passed 1-10-94; Am. Ord. 179, passed 5-14-12) Penalty, see § 10.99
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