(A) Notice of violation.
(1) The Town Council shall forward any complaint to the authorized employee and/or officer for processing, who in turn shall visually inspect the property in question.
(2) If the employee and/or officer determines that a violation exists, he, she or they shall issue a notice of violation as provided below.
(B) Notice to abate. When a complaint addresses a private property, the authorized employee and/or officer through the Town Council shall cause a written notice to abate to be served upon the owner of the property in question, granting that owner a minimum of ten calendar days in which to remove the public nuisance and/or environmental public nuisance. This notice shall be served by certified mail, return receipt requested, and first class mail to the owner, and by a notice place card conspicuously posted on the property which mail or notice shall contain the following information:
(1) The address of the property;
(2) The date of the notice and the name of the employee or officer of the town enforcing this subchapter;
(3) The address of the town; and
(4) The telephone number of the town authorized employee and/or officer and warning that if the public nuisance and/or environmental public nuisance is not removed within ten calendar days after the posting, the town has the right to enter on the property to abate and/or correct the condition and to bill the owner for costs incurred in so doing by the Clerk-Treasurer by filing a lien with the County Auditor for collection as real estate property taxes and/or file a complaint against the owner for ordinance violation to collect the costs incurred to abate and or corrected the condition together with attorneys’ fees and court costs.
(C) Inspection. Following the expiration of the notice to abate, the authorized employee and/or officer shall visually inspect the property to determine whether such a public nuisance and/or environmental public nuisance still exists. If such nuisance exists, action shall be taken to abate the nuisance in accordance with this subchapter.
(D) Exception of notice to abate requirement. If the employee and/or officer finds a violation which constitutes a traffic hazard, the authorized employee and/or officer shall find it necessary to waive the ten-day grace period and to abate the problem as soon as possible.
(E) Publication of notice on certain environmental public nuisances.
(1) In addition to the notice required by division (A) above, the town, through the authorized employee and/or officer, may publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the town on two separate occasions during the month of April that, if any environmental public nuisance violations are not corrected by June 1 of that year, such violations shall be cut and/or removed by the town and the owner of the property charged with the costs under the provision of § 92.05.
(2) The publication shall contain all the information required of the notice to abate in public nuisance and/or environmental public nuisance violations such as weeds, grass or other rank vegetation and shall allow the town to correct such violations such as many times as is necessary to comply with this subchapter and charge such costs to the property owner together with attorneys’ fees and court costs.
(3) Such publication shall supplement and publicize the continuing notice to abate as mentioned in division (F) below.
(F) Continuous abatement notice on certain environmental public nuisances. After providing an initial notice of the violation of an environmental public nuisance such as weeds, grass or other rank vegetation under division (B) above, a continuous abatement notice may be posted at the properly at the time of abatement instead of certified mail, return receipt requested, or first class mail. Such continuous abatement notice shall allow the town to correct such violation as many times as necessary to comply with this subchapter and charge the actual costs to the owner.
(G) Abatement by town on governmental property. Where the complaint for nuisance addresses governmental property and it is determined by the authorized employee and or officer that it exists and threatens the health and/or safety of the people of the town, the authorized employee and/or officer may direct the town to immediately enter upon the premises and remove the public nuisance and/or environmental public nuisance.
(Ord. 2014-2, passed - -2014)