It is the duty of the owner and of his or her agent, and of the lessee, occupant or person in possession of any lot, parcel, tract or piece of land, improved or unimproved, in the City, to keep the lot, parcel, tract, or piece of land free from all loose earth, mounds of soil, dry grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, abandoned asphalt or concrete, refuse, abandoned vehicles, paper, and waste material of any kind, or other unsanitary substance, object or condition, which may endanger or injure neighboring property or the health, safety or welfare of the residents of the vicinity of the property.
It is the duty of the owner and of his or her agent and of the lessee, occupant or person in possession of any lot, parcel, tract or piece of land, improved or unimproved, in the City, to at once remove from the sidewalk, parkway or alley abutting or adjoining such lot, parcel, tract, or piece of land, all loose earth, mounds of soil, dry grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, abandoned asphalt or concrete, rubbish, paper, refuse, abandoned vehicles, and waste material of any kind, or other unsanitary substance, object or condition, which may endanger or injure neighboring property, or the health, safety or welfare of the residents of the vicinity of the property, lands or lots, or obstruct such sidewalks, parkways, or alleys, and thereby endanger or injure persons travelling thereon.
Whenever the Director of Public Works of the City shall find any loose earth, mounds of soil, dry grass, weeds, dead trees, abandoned concrete or asphalt, tin cans, rubbish, paper, refuse, abandoned vehicles or waste material of any kind, or other unsanitary substance, object or condition in or upon the sidewalk, parkway or alley abutting or adjoining any lot, parcel, tract, or piece of land within the City, or in or upon any lot, parcel, tract, piece of land or grounds within the City, which may endanger or injure neighboring property or the public health, public safety, or public welfare, or obstruct such sidewalks, parkways or alleys and thereby endanger or injure persons travelling thereon, he or she shall give, or cause to be given, notice to remove such loose earth, mounds of soil, dry grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, abandoned concrete or asphalt, rubbish, paper, refuse, abandoned vehicles, or waste material of every kind, or other unsanitary substance, object or condition. Such notice shall be in writing, signed by the Director of Public Works and substantially in the following form:
NOTICE TO CLEAN PREMISES
TO THE OWNER, AGENT OF THE OWNER, LESSEE, OCCUPANT, OR PERSON IN POSSESSION OF THE PREMISES, HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED.
Pursuant to the provisions of Blue Lake Municipal Code Chapter 8.08, you are hereby notified to at once, and in any event within 10 days of the date of this notice, remove from the property herein described, all loose earth, mounds of soil, dry grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, abandoned asphalt or concrete, rubbish, paper, refuse, abandoned vehicles, and waste material of all kinds and all other unsanitary substance, object or condition which may endanger or injure neighboring property or afford a refuge for rats or vermin or otherwise endanger or injure the public health, public safety, or public welfare and thereafter keep the premises free therefrom. In the event you shall fail so to do within the time hereinbefore limited, the undersigned will cause the same to be so removed and the charges therefor will be a lien upon the premises and upon the lot or parcel of land adjoining and abutting the sidewalk, parkway or alley, in the event the sidewalk, parkway or alley is to be cleaned.
The property is situated in the City of Blue Lake, California, and is described as follows:
Lot _________ Block _________ Tract _________
If you desire the City to do the work and charge you for it, please notify the City in writing to do so. The City contracts this work and the charge will be for the actual costs.
Before doing any of the work yourself, it is suggested that you confer with this office in the City Hall in order to acquaint yourself with the requirements.
Dated at Blue Lake, California this _________ day of _________ 20_________.
Signed _________
Director of Public Works of the City of Blue Lake, California
A. 
The notice provided for in the preceding section shall be given by delivering the same personally to the owner, agent of the owner, lessee, occupant or person in possession of the premises described in the notice or by depositing the notice in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the owner, agent of the owner, lessee, occupant or person in possession of the lot, piece or parcel of land therein described at his or her last known address, and, if no address is known or made known to the Director of Public Works, then to the general delivery of Blue Lake, California.
B. 
The Director of Public Works or other person mailing the notice required by Section 8.08.030 must file in the office of the City Clerk an affidavit of such mailing, which affidavit shall be conclusive evidence that the notice was mailed as required by subsection A of this section.
C. 
In the absence of fraud, no error or mistake in the sending of the notice required by Section 8.08.030 and no failure on the part of any property owner to receive the same shall in any way affect the validity of the proceedings.
D. 
In the event that a notice required by Section 8.08.030 is given by the Director of Public Works as part of a general scheme or project to clean or improve 10 or more lots or parcels of land at any one time, such as an annual cleaning of weeds from vacant lots; then, in addition to such notice, the City Clerk shall publish in the official newspaper of the City a general notice substantially in the following form:
NOTICE TO CLEAN PREMISES
TO THE OWNERS, AGENTS OF OWNERS, LESSEES, OCCUPANTS, OR PERSONS IN POSSESSION OF PREMISES AND VACANT LOTS IN THE CITY OF BLUE LAKE, CALIFORNIA.
Pursuant to the provisions of Blue Lake Municipal Code Chapter 8.08, you are hereby notified that the City is commencing an annual weed cleaning project. Notices will be mailed to the owner, agent of the owner, lessee, occupant, or person in possession of any lot, piece or parcel of land required to be cleaned and improved. Such notice will be mailed to the last known address, and if no such address is known or made known to the Director of Public Works, then such notice will be mailed to the General Delivery at Blue Lake, California. Each such notice will require that within 10 days of the date of such notice all loose earth, mounds of soil, dry grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, abandoned asphalt and concrete, rubbish, refuse, abandoned vehicles, paper, and waste material of all kinds and all other unsanitary substance, object or condition which may endanger or injure neighboring property or afford a refuge for rats, or vermin or otherwise endanger or injure the public health, public safety or public welfare shall be removed. Failure to receive such notices will not excuse failure to do the work therein required. You are advised to acquaint yourself with the provisions of Blue Lake Municipal Code Chapter 8.08, and with the requirements of the Director of Public Works, and to leave your name and address at his or her office if you desire such notice.
Signed _________
City Clerk, City of Blue Lake
The notice shall be published within seven days either before or after the date that the first notice is mailed.
E. 
Within 10 days from the date of posting, publishing, serving or mailing any notice under this section, whichever shall be the last, the owner, or any person interested in the property, lands, lots, or parcels of land affected by the notice, may appeal to the City Council of the City from the requirements thereof. The appeal shall be in writing, shall state the objections of the person filing the same, and shall be filed with the City Clerk or the Director of Public Works and presented to the City Council at its next regular meeting. The City Council shall proceed to hear and pass upon the appeal and render its decision thereon, determining, by resolution, whether the Director of Public Works shall proceed in accordance with the notice as given or as modified by the City Council, or not at all, and its decision thereon shall be final.
F. 
If any person given the notice provided for in Section 8.08.030 fails to comply therewith within the time therein limited or as extended by the City Council, it shall be the duty of the Director of Public Works to remove all such loose earth, mounds of soil, dry grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, abandoned asphalt or concrete, rubbish, paper, refuse, abandoned vehicles, and waste material of every kind, and every other unsanitary substance, object and condition therefrom.
It is unlawful for any person, owner, agent of the owner, lessee, or anyone in possession of any premises within the City to refuse to allow the Director of Public Works or his/her deputies or employees to enter upon the premises at any time during the hours of daylight or any weekday for the purpose of removing any loose earth, mounds of soil, dry grass, weeds, dead trees, tin cans, abandoned concrete or asphalt, rubbish, refuse, abandoned vehicles, paper, waste material of every kind or other unsanitary substance or objects, which may endanger or injure neighboring property or the public health or public safety or general welfare of the residents of the vicinity of such premises, or to interfere in any way whatsoever with the Director of Public Works, or his/her deputies or employees, in any work which he or she may undertake under the provisions of this chapter.
The Director of Public Works shall make out a statement of the expense incurred by him or her for making the removal provided for in Section 8.08.040(E) and shall place the same on file with the City Clerk. The statement shall, as to each piece of property therein referred to, show the number of the lot and block, and also the name of the tract or subdivision in which the lot lies, or shall describe the lot or parcel of land in any other way by which it may be easily identified, and shall show the cost of so cleaning the same; provided, however, that one or more or all of the lots may be set forth in one and the same statement.
Within 10 days after the filing of the statement referred to in Section 8.08.060, the City Clerk shall cause to be published in the official newspaper of the City, a notice substantially in the following form:
NOTICE
EQUALIZATION OF WEED REMOVAL, NUISANCE ABATEMENT AND CLEANING ASSESSMENTS.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council of the City of Blue Lake, California, will on the _________ day of _________ in the Council Chamber of the City Hall of the City, beginning at the hour of 8:00 p.m. of said day, hear any protests or objections to weed removal, nuisance abatement, and cleaning taxes for the purpose of correcting, modifying or confirming the same, and the failure to make any objection thereto will be deemed a waiver of the same.
A statement showing all property affected and the respective taxes or charges against the same is now on file in the office of the City Clerk at the City Hall of the City and is open to public inspection.
Dated this _________ day of _________
Signed _________
City Clerk, City of Blue Lake
Any interested person objecting to the proposed assessment may file a written protest with the City Clerk at or before the time set for the hearing referred to in the notice published in accord with Section 8.08.070. The City Clerk shall present to the City Council all protests so filed with him or her. The City Council sitting as the Board of Equalization at the hearing which shall be had at the first regular meeting of the City Council next after the expiration of 10 days from the date of publication of this notice, may modify or correct any assessment which, in their opinion, is excessive or otherwise incorrect. If no corrections or modifications are made, the assessments shall be deemed confirmed and the City Council's decision thereon shall be conclusive and the respective assessments thereupon shall be conclusive and the respective assessments shall thereupon become a lien against the respective property involved and against the premises or property abutting or adjoining the sidewalk, parkway, or alley in the event the property cleaned be a sidewalk, parkway or alley, until the respective assessments are paid. If any such correction or modification in any assessment is made by the City Council, the corrected or modified amount shall be deemed confirmed and the City Council's decision thereupon shall be conclusive and the same shall thereupon become a lien as above provided.
After the hearing provided for in the notice given under Section 8.08.070, the assessment roll shall be forwarded to and filed with the Tax Collector of the City, or with the County Tax Collector, if the County collects City taxes during the period effective.
The amount of the assessment shall be collected at the time and in the manner of ordinary municipal taxes. If delinquent, the amount is subject to the same penalties and procedures of foreclosure and sale provided for ordinary municipal taxes.
For purposes of this chapter, "abandoned vehicle" is defined as being an unlicensed vehicle that is in such a condition of disrepair as to be incapable of being driven under its own power and has been left standing in the same place for a period of 120 consecutive days.
Any person violating the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding 10 days or by a fine not to exceed $50.00, or by both such fine and imprisonment.