(A) In the event that an enforcement officer observes a person creating, maintaining or permitting a public nuisance, the officer may, after presenting proper identification, verbally order that the person cease creating, maintaining and/or permitting a nuisance. If, after receiving a concern or complaint and completing an investigation, the enforcement officer determines a public nuisance exists, a notice and order shall be issued requiring the owner, occupant and/or property agent (individually or jointly) to abate and/or remediate the public nuisance.
(B) Contents of notice and order. The city shall include the following as part of notice and order:
(1) Property location by street address, property identification number, or other property description;
(2) Information identifying the nature of the public nuisance on or in the property;
(3) A summary of the owner's and occupant's responsibilities under state law and/or this chapter;
(4) Specific orders of abatement and/or remediation of the public nuisance;
(5) Completion dates for abatement and remediation, as prescribed by § 90.006(A) herein;
(6) Notice that unless the public nuisance is abated and/or remediated in accordance with the terms of the order or appealed by the completion date designated in the order, the city will have the nuisance abated and remediated at the expense of the owner under the provisions of M.S. § 145A.08, M.S. Chapter 463, this chapter, or other applicable state or local law and assess the costs against the real property where applicable as a special assessment to be collected in the same manner as property taxes;
(7) Notice of a right to appeal the order by submitting a written request with the City Manager before the abatement/remediation completion date set forth in the order;
(8) An order that the property may not be occupied or used until the public health nuisance is assessed and remediated by an approved contractor when a public health nuisance exists and where the public health nuisance includes a chemical investigation site or a clandestine drug lab or operation contaminated by substances, chemicals, or items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine or any part of the manufacturing of methamphetamine or any part of the manufacturing process, the by-products or degradants of manufacturing or other public nuisances including hazardous waste, solid waste, rodents, vermin, disease-carrying insects or other unsanitary conditions; and
(9) When applicable, a copy of the chemical investigation site public health nuisance warning sign that is posted at the site's entrance(s).
(C) Service.
(1) The notice and order for abatement and/or remediation shall be served on the owner, occupant, or property agent, if applicable, in one of the following ways:
(a) By mail;
(b) By an officer authorized to serve a warrant; or
(2) If the owner of real property is unknown or absent and has no known representative upon whom notice can be served, an enforcement officer shall post a written or printed notice on the real property, stating that, unless the nuisance is abated or appealed within ten days, the city will have the public nuisance abated at the expense of the owner under M.S. § 145A.08, M.S. Chapter 463, this chapter, or other applicable state or local law.
(3) Where it is determined that a child neglect, child endangerment or vulnerable adult situation may exist as a result of a public health nuisance, the enforcement officer shall notify the Watonwan County divisions responsible for responding to potential child neglect, child endangerment or vulnerable adult situations. The notice should include the following:
(a) Real property location by street address;
(b) Owner's and occupant's identities known to be associated with the real property;
(c) Conditions found that make this home or residence a public health nuisance; and
(d) Any other conditions that may be associated with the real property that could present harmful conditions as determined by state law.
(D) The enforcement officer may leave a posted warning sign at a public health nuisance site. It shall be unlawful for any person, except for authorized city personnel, to remove this sign once posted. Any person, other than an enforcement officer, who willfully removes a warning sign may be charged with a misdemeanor interference with performance of duties pursuant to M.S. § 145A.04, subd. 10.
(E) Notice to public. When an order requires, exclusively or as an option, the demolition of a building, the public shall be put on notice as follows:
(1) A copy of the order shall be placed on file in the office of the City Manager.
(2) The enforcement officer shall notify the Council of each parcel of real property subject to a demolition order as follows: each month the enforcement officer shall send to the Council a list of the real properties that have become subject to a demolition order. The list shall be in the form of a resolution declaring that an enforcement action has been commenced and that as a result of the public nuisance status of a building on the real property an order has been issued detailing the violations and requiring, exclusively or as an option, that the building be demolished and that a copy of this order is on file in the office of the City Manager.
(F) Recording. Where a public health nuisance includes a chemical investigation site or a clandestine drug lab or operation contaminated by substances, chemicals, or items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine or any part of the manufacturing of methamphetamine or any part of the manufacturing process, the by-products or degradants of manufacturing or other public nuisances including hazardous waste, solid waste, rodents, vermin, disease-carrying insects or other unsanitary conditions, the city shall:
(1) Record an affidavit with the County Recorder Office for Watonwan County, Minnesota as required by M.S. § 152.0275, subd. 2(h) if the affected property is real property.
(2) Notify the registrar of motor vehicles as required by M.S. § 152.0275, subd. 2(g) if the affected property is a motor vehicle, boat, or trailer.
(G) Chemical investigation site; property owner's and occupant's additional responsibilities.
(1) Property owner(s) and occupant(s) provided with notice, which also includes the posted warning sign informing them of the chemical investigation site public health nuisance, shall promptly act to vacate occupants and animals from those parts of a structure that are a chemical investigation site or other public health nuisance. This includes dwellings, buildings, motor vehicles, trailers, boat, appliances or any other affected area or location.
(2) Property owner(s) and occupant(s) shall contract with one or more approved remediation, environmental hazard testing and cleaning firms on the Minnesota Department of Health's list that will verify work is completed according to the Minnesota Department of Health's Clandestine Drug Labs General Cleanup Guidelines (in coordination with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) and best practices, to accomplish ordered work which may include, but is not limited to, the following:
(a) A detailed on-site assessment of the extent of contamination at the site and the contamination of the personal property therein. This includes dwellings, buildings, motor vehicles, trailers, boats, appliances or any other affected area or location;
(b) Soil testing of the site and testing of all property and soil in proximity to the site that the environmental hazard testing and cleaning firm determines may have been affected by the conditions found at the site, including testing the well and septic system;
(c) A complete cleanup of the site (including, but not limited to, the cleanup or removal of contaminated plumbing, ventilation systems, fixtures and soil, well and septic system), or a demolition of the site and a complete cleanup of the demolished site including abandonment of the well and septic system if necessary;
(d) A complete cleanup, or disposal at an approved dumpsite, of all personal property in the site;
(e) A complete cleanup of all property and soil in proximity to the site that is found to have been affected by the conditions found at the site; and
(f) Remediation testing and follow-up testing to determine that all health risks are sufficiently reduced, according to Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency guidelines, to allow safe human occupancy and use of the site, and use of the personal property therein.
(3) Property owner(s) and occupant(s) shall provide both local law enforcement and the Brown-Nicollet Environmental Health with the identity of the professional remediation firm the owner, occupant or property agent has contracted with for remediation of the structure(s) as described above.
(4) Property owner(s) and occupant(s) shall provide both local law enforcement and the Brown-Nicollet Environmental Health with the selected contractor's plan and schedule for remediation that will satisfy the abatement and remediation order(s).
(5) The property owner(s) and occupant(s) may request an extension of time for the abatement and remediation completion date(s) set forth in the order to consider options for arranging cleanup or removal of the affected parts of the property. The owner(s) or occupant(s) must show good cause for any such extension. Any such extension shall be dependent on the assurances of the owner(s) that the affected parts of the property will not be occupied pending appropriate cleanup or demolition.
(H) Modification and removal.
(1) The city may modify conditions of an abatement and remediation order, including timelines, and may order removal of a declaration of a public health nuisance.
(2) Such modification or removal shall be only after the city has determined the public nuisance is sufficiently reduced or abated through remediation to warrant modification or removal of the declaration in the notice and order. The city may rely on information from competent sources, including those supplied by the property owner(s) and others, including but not limited to state and local health, safety, law enforcement and pollution control authorities, to reach such decisions.
(3) If notice of a public health nuisance was filed with the County Recorder Office for Watonwan County, Minnesota, notice that the declaration in the order or the order itself has been removed shall be forwarded to the County Recorder Office for Watonwan County, Minnesota for addition to the property record.
(4) If notice of a public health nuisance was filed with the State Registrar, notice that the declaration in the order or the order itself has been removed shall be provided to the motor vehicle or other license records agencies and lien holders.
(Ord. 020, fourth series, passed 5-21-2024)