A. Enforcing Officer: It shall be the duty of the chairman of the street and sidewalk committee of the village board, when he or she shall obtain information from any source of the existence of nuisance greenery, pests or rubbish on private property contrary to section 3-1-2 of this chapter, to take proper steps at once to enforce this chapter.
B. Removal By Village: The nuisances established pursuant to this chapter may be removed or remedied by private contractors hired by the village, or, at the discretion of the enforcing officer, by village personnel.
C. Charge: The village hereby establishes a charge, payable to the village, of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per hour or any portion thereof for the use of village employees, equipment and fuel for removal of rubbish, pests and nuisance greenery. The corporate authorities of the village hereby find that said charge is fair and reasonable to recompense the village for its expenses. In the event the chairman of the streets and sidewalk committee contracts with a third party for the removal of rubbish, pests or nuisance greenery, the charge to the owner, occupant or lessee shall be the village's out of pocket expenses, plus a twenty five dollar ($25.00) service charge for administering the contract, which the corporate authorities find to be fair and reasonable to recompense the village.
D. Lien: In the event that the nuisance greenery, pest or rubbish removal expense remains unpaid for more than ten (10) days after said service is performed and expense incurred by the village, said unpaid charge shall constitute a lien upon the real estate, and the village clerk is hereby authorized, in accordance with law, to file notice of lien in the office of the recorder of deeds of Sangamon County.
E. Suit:
1. In addition to any other action authorized by section 3-1-2 of this chapter or by the Illinois municipal code, the village may, to the extent permitted by law, bring suit to foreclose the lien and to sue the owner or lessee or occupant of the real estate or their agent, in a civil action to recover the money due for services rendered, plus all expenses and reasonable attorney fees to be fixed by the court. Any such judgment shall be enforced in accordance with law. In addition to the charges due, the village is entitled to collect the costs of filing notice of lien, foreclosing said lien and litigation costs, together with all office and legal expense incurred in connection with the collection of the amount due.
2. Upon payment of all costs, expenses, charges and penalties, the lien created under this section shall be released by the village, which release shall be filed of record in the same manner as filing notice of the lien, pursuant to law, the expense of said filing to be paid by the violator. (Ord. 13-04, 2-11-2013)