(a) No owner or occupant of abutting lands shall fail to keep the curbs or gutters free from any nuisance. Sidewalks shall be kept in repair and free from snow or any nuisance.
(b) The owners or occupants of each single residential or industrial property and the owner of any multiple residential, commercial, or industrial property, or of any unoccupied or unimproved property abutting upon public sidewalks, shall clear such sidewalks of snow and ice within 24 hours after such snow event ceases.
(c) Sidewalks in the city which are not free of snow and ice within 24 hours after the abatement of any storm during which snow and ice may have accumulated are hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
(d) If such sidewalk in not cleared within the 24 hours, the City may cause such sidewalk to be cleared. Upon such action, the City may charge the owner or occupant an amount equal to its cost plus and additional surcharge of 100% of the City's cost. However, in no event shall the charge be less than twenty dollars ($20.00).
(e) The City shall bill the owner, operator, or person in possession of the property for reimbursement of the costs of abatement. The bill shall be mailed to the owner's last known address.
(f) In the event of the failure to reimburse the amount of the bill within thirty (30) days thereafter, the Director of Finance shall cause to be prepared and delivered to Council an ordinance levying against such lots and lands such charges, amounts and fees. When the Council has passed such ordinance, a copy thereof, together with a list of such charges, amounts and fees to be so assessed, shall be delivered by the Director of Finance to the County Auditor, and such charges, amounts, and fees shall be entered upon the tax list and duplicate and become a lien upon such lots and land from and after the date of the entry and be collected as other taxes and assessments and be returned to the City, according to law.
(g) A violation of this section shall be a minor misdemeanor.
(h) Any law enforcement officer, the Municipal Administrator or Municipal Administrator's designee shall be authorized to issue citations for any violation of this section.
(Ord. 2013-72. Passed 12-23-13.)