City Council Ordinance 1311Ordinance No. 1311
DUTCH ELM DISEASE
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING
SECTIONS 1311.010 and 1311.080
OF ORDINANCE NO. 1311 ADOP-
TED APRIL 8, 1974, AND EN-
TITLED, "AN ORDINANCE
AMENDMENT TO THE DUTCH
ELM DISEASE ORDINANCE
NO. 1311."
The City Council of Monticello
ordains:
Sections 1311.010, and 1311.080
of Ordinance No. 1311 adopted
April 8, 1974, and entitled "Dutch
Elm Disease," are amended to read:
Section 1311.010 Forester:
Duties. The powers and duties of
the City Forester asset forth in
this Code are hereby conferred up-
on the Park Inspector.
1t is the -duty of the Forester
to coordinate, under the direction
and control of the Council, all ac-
tivities of the Municipality relating
to the control and prevention of
Dutch Elm Disease. He shall recom-
mend to the Council the details of
a program for the control of Dutch
Elm Disease, and perform the duties
incident to such a program adopted
by the Council
Section 1311.080 Procedures for
Removal of Infected Trees and
Wood. Subd. 1. Whenever the for-
ester finds with reasonable certain-
ty that the infestation defined in
1311.030 exists in any tree or wood
in any public or private place in
the city, he shall proceed as fol-
lows:
A. If the forester finds that
the danger of infestation of other
elm trees is hot imminent because
of elm dormancy, he shall make a
written report of his findings to
the council which shall proceed by
(1) abating the nuisance as a pub-
lic improvement under Minnesota
Statutes Ch. 429 or (2) abating
the nuisance as provided in Subd.
2 of this Section.
B. If the forester finds that
danger of infestation of other elm
trees is imminent, he shall notify
the property owner by certified
mail that the nuisance will be abat-
ed within a specified time, not less
than 5 days from the date of mail-
ing of such notice. The forester
shall immediately report such ac-
tion to the council, and after the
expiration of the time limited by
the notice he may abate the nui-
sance.
Encl. 1
Council minutes of April 8,
197:4
Subd. 2. Upon receipt of the
forester's report required by Subd.
1, part A, the council shall by
resolution order the nuisance abat-
ed. Before action is taken on such
resolution, the council shall pub-
lish notice of its intention to meet
to consider taking action to abate
the nuisance. This notice shall
be mailed to affected property
owners and published once no less
than one week prior to such meet-
ing. The notice shall state the time
and place of the meeting, the streets
affected, action proposed, the esti-
mated cost of the abatement, and
the proposed bases of assessment,
if any, of costs. At such hearing
or adjournment thereof, the coun-
cil shall hear property owners with
reference to the scope and desir-
ability of the proposed project.
The council shall thereafter adopt
a resolution confirming the origin-
al resolution with such modifica-
tions as it considers desirable and
provide for the doing of the work
by day labor or by contract.
Subd. 3. The forester shall
keep a record of the costs of abate-
ments done under this Section
and shall report monthly to the
city clerk all work done for which
assessments are to be made stat-
ing and certifying the descrip-
tion of the )and, lots, parcels in-
volved and the amount chargeable
to each.
Subd. 4. On or before Septem-
ber 1 of each year the clerk shall
list the total unpaid charges for
each abatement against each separ-
ate lot or parcel to which they are
attributable undee this ordinance.
The council may then spread the
charges or any portion thereof
against the property involved as a
special assessment under Minneso-
ta Statutes Section 420.101 and
other pertinent statutes for certifi-
cation to the county auditor and
collection the following year along
with current taxes.
The city council of Monticello
has determined that the health of
the elm trees within the Municipal
limits is threatened by a fatal
disease known as Dutch Elm Di-
sease. It has further determined
that the loss of elm trees growing
upon public and private property
would substantially depreciate the
value of property within the city
and impair the safety, good order,
general welfare, and convenience
of the public. It is declared to be
the intention of the council to con-
trol and prevent the spread of this
disease and this ordinance is being
enacted for that purpose.
It is declared to be the intention
of the council to establish a policy
for sharing the cost of abatement
of dutch elm disease nuisances with
the property owners. The munici-
pal share shall be 50 percent and
the property owners' share shal I be
50 percent.
Sections 1311.010 and 1311.080
This ordinance becomes effective
from and after its passage and pub-
lication.
Passed by the Council this 8th
day of April, 1974.
This ordinance to be effective
the day following publication in
the official newspaper.
—Conrad O. Johnson, Mayor.
Kevin L. LaFrance, Attest Clerk
(Published in Monticello Times on
May 16, 1974.)