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(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. Shall mean 1 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 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 Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer or other person designated by the City 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 Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer or other designated person shall keep a record showing the cost of removal adjacent to each separate lot and parcel.
(C) Public health and safety hazards. When the city removes or eliminates public health or safety hazards from private property under the following provisions of this chapter, 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 that information to the City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer.
(D) Installation and repair of water service lines. Whenever the city installs or repairs water service lines serving private property under Title V of this code, the City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer shall keep a record of the total cost of the installation or repair against the property.
(E) 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 Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer.
(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 and that 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 Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer 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 Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer shall keep a record of the total cost of the repair attributable to each lot or parcel of property.
(F) 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 City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer, or other designated official, shall prepare a bill and mail it to the owner and thereupon the amount shall be immediately due and payable at the office of the City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer.
(G) 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 operating, driving, or moving it 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.
(H) Assessment. On or before September 1 of each year, the City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer 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 the authority of M.S. § 429.101 as it may be amended from time to time and other pertinent statutes for certification to the County Auditor and collection along with current taxes the following year or in annual installments, not exceeding 10, as the City Council may determine in each case.
(A) 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.
(B) Abatement of nuisance. It is unlawful for any person to permit any public nuisance as defined in division (A) of this section to remain on any premises the person owns or controls within the city. The City Council may by resolution order the nuisance abated. Before action is taken on that 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 the affected property owner and published once no less than 1 week prior to the meeting. The notice shall state the time and place of the meeting, the street affected, action proposed, the estimated cost of the abatement, and the proposed basis of assessment, if any, of costs. At the hearing or adjournment thereof, the City Council shall hear any property owner with reference to the scope and desirability of the proposed project. 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.
(C) Record of costs. The City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer shall keep a record of the costs of abatement done under this section for 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.
(D) Unpaid charges. On or before September 1 of each year, the City Administrator-Clerk-Treasurer 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 as authorized by M.S. § 429.101 as it may be amended from time to time and other pertinent statutes for certification to the County Auditor and collection the following year along with the current taxes.
(A) Definitions. All terms, words, or phrases shall have the meaning given to them by Minnesota state statute.
(B) Restrictions.
(1) Parking or abandonment of junked vehicles or motor vehicles. No person shall park, keep, place, store, or abandon any junk vehicle or motor vehicle or vehicle or motor vehicle not currently registered, on a public street, alley, or parking lot.
(2) Parking and storage of junk vehicles and motor vehicles on private property. No person in charge or control of any property within the city, whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee, or otherwise, shall allow any partially dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked, junked, not currently registered or discarded vehicle or motor vehicle to remain on the property longer than 15 days and no person shall leave any vehicle or motor vehicle on property within the city for a longer time than 15 days, except that this section shall not apply with regard to a vehicle or motor vehicle in a fully enclosed building or authorized junk yard.
(C) Written notice by police to correct violations.
(1) Upon complaint of the existence of any of the above conditions, the Wells Police Department may serve a written notice on the owner, tenant, occupant, lessee, or other person in charge of the property, demanding that the condition be rectified within 3 days for garbage that may be or is emitting a foul or disagreeable odor, and 15 days for all other junk, trash, garbage, junk vehicles, junk motor vehicles.
(2) If the owner or controlling party of private property cannot be contacted or if the owner refuses to clean up property under their control, the city may clean or rectify the condition and bill the owner or persons in control of that property for all costs incurred by the city, including criminal prosecution of violators.
(Ord. 228, passed 11-19-1996; Am. Ord. passed 10-9-2000) Penalty, see § 10.99
NUISANCES
Whoever by his or her act or failure to perform a legal duty intentionally does any of the following is guilty of maintaining a public nuisance, which is a misdemeanor:
(A) Maintains or permits a condition which unreasonably annoys, injures, or endangers the safety, health, morals, comfort, or repose of any considerable number of members of the public;
(B) Interferes with, obstructs, or renders dangerous for passage any public highway or right-of-way, or waters used by the public; or
(C) Is guilty of any other act or omission declared by law or §§ 92.16, 92.17, or 92.18, or any other part of this code to be a public nuisance and for which no sentence is specifically provided.
The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting health:
(A) Exposed accumulation of decayed or unwholesome food or vegetable matter;
(B) All diseased animals running at large;
(C) All ponds or pools of stagnant water;
(D) Carcasses of animals not buried or destroyed within 24 hours after death;
(E) Accumulations of manure, refuse, or other debris;
(F) Privy vaults and garbage cans which are not rodent-free or fly-tight or which are so maintained as to constitute a health hazard or to emit foul and disagreeable odors;
(G) The pollution of any public well or cistern, stream or lake, canal or body of water by sewage, industrial waste, or other substances;
(H) All noxious weeds and other rank growths of vegetation upon public or private property;
(I) Dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas and soot, or cinders, in unreasonable quantities;
(J) All public exposure of people having a contagious disease;
(K) Any offensive trade or business as defined by statute not operating under local license; and
(L) Accumulation in the open of discarded or disused machinery, household appliances, automobile parts or bodies, logs, tree trunks and branches, construction materials, unusable toys, other plastics, wood, metals or other materials in a manner conducive to harboring of rats, mice, snakes, or vermin or growth of vegetation so accumulated, or in a manner creating fire, health, or safety hazards of the accumulation.
(Ord. 228, passed 11-19-1996; Am. Ord. passed 10-9-2000) Penalty, see § 10.99
The following are hereby declared to be nuisances affecting public morals and decency:
(A) All gambling devices, slot machines, and punch boards, except as otherwise authorized by federal, state, or local law;
(B) Betting, bookmaking, and all apparatus used in those occupations;
(C) All houses kept for the purpose of prostitution or promiscuous sexual intercourse, gambling houses, houses of ill fame, and bawdy houses;
(D) All places where intoxicating liquor is manufactured or disposed of in violation of law or where, in violation of law, people are permitted to resort for the purpose of drinking intoxicating liquor, or where intoxicating liquor is kept for sale or other disposition in violation of law, and all liquor and other property used for maintaining that place; and
(E) Any vehicle used for the unlawful transportation of intoxicating liquor, or for promiscuous sexual intercourse, or any other immoral or illegal purpose.
The following are declared to be nuisances affecting public peace and safety:
(A) All snow and ice not removed from public sidewalks 24 hours after the snow or other precipitation causing the condition has ceased to fall;
(B) All trees, hedges, billboards, or other obstructions which prevent people from having a clear view of all traffic approaching an intersection;
(C) All wires and limbs of trees which are so close to the surface of a sidewalk or street as to constitute a danger to pedestrians or vehicles;
(D) All obnoxious noises in violation of Minn. Rules, Ch. 7030, as they may be amended from time to time, which are hereby incorporated by reference into this code;
(E) The discharging of the exhaust or permitting the discharging of the exhaust of any stationary internal combustion engine, motor boat, motor vehicle, motorcycle, all terrain vehicle, snowmobile, or any recreational device except through a muffler or other device that effectively prevents loud or explosive noises therefrom and complies with all applicable state laws and regulations;
(F) (1) The using or operation or permitting the using or operation of any radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, paging system, machine, or other device for producing or reproduction of sound in a distinctly and loudly audible manner so as to disturb the peace, quiet, and comfort of any person nearby.
(2) Operation of any device referred to above between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in a manner so as to be plainly audible at the property line of the structure or building in which it is located, or at a distance of 50 feet if the source is located outside a structure or building shall be prima facie evidence of violation of this section.
(G) The participation in a party or gathering of people giving rise to noise which disturbs the peace, quiet, or repose of the occupants of adjoining or other property;
(H) Obstructions and excavations affecting the ordinary public use of streets, alleys, sidewalks, or public grounds except under conditions as are permitted by this code or other applicable law;
(I) Radio aerials or television antennae erected or maintained in a dangerous manner;
(J) Any use of property abutting on a public street or sidewalk or any use of a public street or sidewalk which causes large crowds of people to gather, obstructing traffic, and the free use of the street or sidewalk;
(K) All hanging signs, awnings, and other similar structures over streets and sidewalks, so situated so as to endanger public safety, or not constructed and maintained as provided by ordinance;
(L) The allowing of rain water, ice, or snow to fall from any building or structure upon any street or sidewalk or to flow across any sidewalk;
(M) Any barbed wire fence less than 6 feet above the ground and within 3 feet of a public sidewalk or way;
(N) All dangerous, unguarded machinery in any public place, or so situated or operated on private property as to attract the public;
(O) Waste water cast upon or permitted to flow upon streets or other public properties;
(P) Accumulations in the open of discarded or disused machinery, household appliances, automobile bodies, or other material in a manner conducive to the harboring of rats, mice, snakes, or vermin, or the rank growth of vegetation among the items so accumulated, or in a manner creating fire, health, or safety hazards from accumulation;
(Q) Any well, hole, or similar excavation which is left uncovered or in another condition as to constitute a hazard to any child or other person coming on the premises where it is located;
(R) Obstruction to the free flow of water in a natural waterway or a public street drain, gutter, or ditch with trash of other materials;
(S) The placing or throwing on any street, sidewalk, or other public property of any glass, tacks, nails, bottles, or other substance which may injure any person or animal or damage any pneumatic tire when passing over the substance;
(T) The depositing of garbage or refuse on a public right-of-way or on adjacent private property; and
(U) All other conditions or things which are likely to cause injury to the person or property of anyone.
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