ORDINANCE 85-552
CITY OF HOPKINS
HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA
ORDINANCE NO. 85- 552
AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
OF SHADE TREE DISEASES; PRESCRIBING A PENALTY; AND
REPEALING HOPKINS CITY ORDINANCE SECTIONS 1025:00 THROUGH 1025:5
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HOPKINS, MINNESOTA, ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. The Council has determined
that the health of elm and oak trees within the City is threatened
by diseases to said trees, commonly referred to as "Dutch elm
disease" and "oak wilt disease", such diseases being known in
scientific terms as Ceratocystis ulmi and Ceratocystis fagacearum,
respectively. It has further determined that,~he loss of elm and
oak trees growing upon public and private property will
substantially depreciate the value of property within the City and
~mpair the safety, good order, general welfare and convenience of
the public. It is declared to be the intention of the City to
control and prevent the spread of these diseases, and this
Qrdinance is enacted for that purpose.
SECTION 2. Tree Inspector. The position of Tree Inspector is
hereby created within the City to carry out the provisions of this
Ordinance and of Minnesota Statutes 1974, Section 18.023 as
amended. The City Manager is directed to employ or retain on E
continuing basis a suitably qualified person as Tree Inspector, who
shall promptly become and remain certified as a Tree Inspector by
the Commissioner of Agriculture. It shall be the duty of the Tree
Inspector to coordinate, under the direction and control of the
Council, all activities of the City relating to the control and
prevention of Dutch elm disease and oak wilt disease. He shall
recommend to the Council the details of the program for the control
of such diseases, and perform the duties incident to such a program
adopted by the Council.
SECTION 3. Shade Tree Disease Control Program. It is the
intention of the City to conduct a program of shade tree disease
control pursuant to the authority granted by Minnesota Statutes
1974, Section 18.023, as amended. This program is directed
specifically at the control and elimination of Dutch elm disease
and oak wilt disease and is undertaken on the recommendation of the
Commissioner of Agriculture. The Tree Inspector shall dev~lop a
program plan in compliance with Minnesota Statutes 1974, Section
18.023, as amended, and the Regulations issued pursuant thereto by
the Department of Agriculture, for the identification and control
of diseased elm and oak trees, and shall be responsible for the
making and maintenance of all records and reports related to the
program. The Tree Inspector shall act as coordinator between the
Commissioner of Agriculture and the City in the conduct of this
program.
SECTION
declared to
the C~ty;
4. Nuisances Declared. The follow~ng things are
be public nu~sances, whenever they may be found within
(a) any elm tree infected with Dutch elm disease, or any oak
tree infected with oak wilt disease;
(b) any dead elm or oak tree or part thereof, including logs,
branches, stumps and firewood or other material from which
the bark has not been removed.
SECTION 5. Abatement. It is unlawful for any person to perm~t
any public nuisance, as defined within Section 4 hereof, to rema~n
on any premises owned or controlled by him with the City of
Hopkins. Such nuisances may be abated in the manner prescribed by
this Ordinance.
SECTION 6. Inspection and Investigation. The Tree Inspector
shall inspect all premises and places within the City as often as
practicable to determine whether any condition described in Section
4 of this Ordinance exists thereon. He shall investigate all
reported incidents of infestation by Dutch elm fungus or elm bark
beetles or oak wilt. The Tree Inspector or his duly authorized
agents, may enter upon private premises at any reasonable time for
the purpose of carrying out any of the duties assigned him under
this Ordinance. The Tree Inspector shall, upon finding conditions
indicating Dutch elm disease or oak wilt disease infestation,
immediately send appropriate samples to the State Disgnostic
Laboratory for analysis or take such other steps for disgnosis a~
may be recommended by the Commissioner of Agriculture.
SECTION 7. of Shade Tree Disease
Nuisances. In atement 0 t e nuisances
defined in Section 4, the Tree Inspector shall cause or order the
infected tree or wood to be sprayed, removed, burned, or otherwise
effectively treated so as to destroy and prevent as fully as
possible the spread of the diseases. Such abatement procedures
shall be carried out in accordance with prescribed methods approved
by the Commissioner of Agriculture. Whenever the Tree Inspector
determines that any elm or oak tree or elm or oak wood within the
City is infected with Dutch elm or oak wilt disease, he may spray
all nearby elm or oak treees with an effective pesticide. Spraying
activities authorized by this section shall be conducted in
accordance with the technical and expert opinion and plans of the
Commissioner of Agriculture and under the supervision of the
Commissioner and his agents, whenever possible.
SECTION 8. Procedure for Abatement of Nuisances.
. (a) On Private Property. Whenever the Tree Inspector finds
w~th reasonable certainty that a public nuisance defined in Section
4. exists in any tree or wood located on private property in the
C~ty, he shall notify the owner of such property by certified mail
of the infestation, and specify there~n a time (in any event not
les~ tha~ 5 ~r more than 20 days from the date of mailing of such
not~ce) ~n wh~ch the infected tree or part thereof shall be
sprayed, removed or otherwise treated by such owner in the manner
.
· specified ~n the notice and to the satisfaction of the Tree
Inspector. The notice shall also state that if such nuisance shall
not have been abated by the owner within the time provided, it will
be immediately abated by the City and the entire cost thereof will
be billed to the owner and if not paid shall be assessed against
the property under Minnesota Statutes, Section 4~9.l01.
(b) Assessment of Costs. The Tree Inspector shall keep a
record of trees removed and the cost of abatements done under this
Section 8 and shall report monthly to the City Clerk all work done
for which assessments are to be made, stating and certifying the
description of the land, lots and parcels involved and the amounts
chargeable to each. On or before September 1 of each year, the City
Clerk shall list the total unpaid charges for each abatement
against each separate lot or parcel to which they are attributable
under this Ordinance. The Council may then spread the charges or
any portion thereof against the property involved as a special
assessment under Minnesota Statutes, Section 429.10l and other
pertinent statutes for certification to the County Auditor and
collection in the following year along with current taxes.
SECTION 9. City Assistance. The Council may by appropriate
resolution provide for subsidies to certain property owners to
assist in the abatement of a public nuisance defined in Section 4
in accordance with the provisions of Minnesota Statutes 1974,
Section 18.023, Subd. 4 as amended.
SECTION 10. Transporting Elm Wood and Oak Wood Prohibited. It
is unlawful for any person to transport within the City any
bark-bearing elm wood or oak wood without having obtained a permit
from the Tree Inspector. The Tree Inspector shall grant such
permits only in conformity with the State approved removal and wood
disposal practices.
SECTION II. Interference Prohibited. It is unlawful for any
person to prevent, delay or interfere with the Tree Inspector or
his agents while they are engaged in the performance of duties
imposed by this Ordinance.
SECTION 12.
violates Sections
misdemeanor.
Penalty.
10 or 11
Any person, f~rm or corporation who
of this Ordinance is guilty of a
SECTION 13. Repealer. Hopkins City Ordinance Sections 1025.00
through 1025.55, ~nclusive, are hereby repealed in their entirety.
SECTION 14. This Ordinance shall take effect 20 days after'
passage and publ~catlon accordlng to the Clty charter.
First read at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City
of Hopkins held Maa 7. , 1985, and finally read,
approved, adopted an ordered published at a regular meeting of
said Council of said City on May 2~) , 1985.
\ I
/'1 ~r--tO It ( J
ul'Y /,j I Y ,/I'J j
J. Scott Renne, City Clerk R ert F. Mi: er, Mayor
Jerre A. Miller, City Attorney