Village of Coal Valley
Public Works Department
Coal Valley, Illinois
P.O.
Box 105
Coal
Valley, IL 61240
Ph.
309-799-3604
Fax
309-799-3651
We would like to welcome you to the Village of Coal Valley Public Works
Department. We hope that you find
the information that we have provided informative.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions, comments or concerns
that you may have.
Ryan Hamerlinck – Water Superintendent
Stephen Mullen, Jr. - Public Works Utility Man
Corey Engstrom - Public Works Utility Man
ORDINANCE REMINDERS
Grass & Weeds
Any person owning property within the Village where weeds or grass are permitted to grow must cut the weeds before they grow 10 inches in height.
Any person violating the provisions of this Chapter shall be fined not less than $50.00 or more than $100.00 for each offense. Each day’s continuance or existence is a separate offense.
(Ord. 7-21-82)
Section 3. REMOVAL OF WEEDS AND GRASS; LIEN
A. The public works supervisor of the Village may provide for the cutting of weeds and/or grass over ten (10) inches in height on private property within the Village when the owner of such property, after reasonable notice, refuses or neglects to cut such weeds or grass. Reasonable notice shall consist of one publication of this Section in a newspaper of general circulation within the Village in addition to the following:
1. When a property owner has been cited for a violation of any section of this Chapter 2 during the previous growing season, he shall be notified by letter at the beginning of the current growing season of his obligation to provide for the cutting of weeds or grass on his property. Such notice shall constitute reasonable notice for the entire growing season; and
2. When a property owner has not been cited for a violation of this Chapter 2 during the previous growing season, he shall be provided, by letter, a seven (7) day time period in which to provide for the cutting of weeds and grass currently in violation of this Chapter. The letter will also constitute reasonable notice for the remainder of the growing season. If subsequent violations are observed, during the same growing season, the weeds and grass will be cut immediately and the owner will be billed for the cost thereof.
B. Upon refusal or neglect of any property owner to cut weeds or grass in violation of this Chapter 2, the public works supervisor may cause such weeds or grass to be cut and shall collect from the property owner the costs for the service. The charge for such service shall be fifty dollars ($50.00) per man hour necessary to complete such work with a minimum charge of fifty dollars ($50.00) per parcel. These costs shall be billed to the property owner along with an additional twenty dollars ($20.00) lien charge per parcel of property.
If cutting charges are fully paid within thirty (30) days, the twenty dollars ($20.00) lien charge will be returned. If cutting charges are not fully paid within thirty (30) days, a second billing notice shall be sent to the property owner. If, after ten (10) days following a second notice, the property owner still has not paid the cutting and lien charges, the Village Clerk may cause a lien to be placed on the property. Such lien shall be superior to all subsequent liens and encumbrances, except tax liens, if a Notice of Lien is filed in the Office of the County Recorder of Deeds within seven (7) months of the date of completion of the cutting of weeds or grass by the Village. The Notice of Lien shall consist of a sworn statement setting out:
1. A description of the property sufficient for identification thereof;
2.
The amount of money representing the cost and expense incurred or payable
for the service; and
3. The date or dates such cost and expense was incurred by the Village.
C. However, the lien shall not be valid as to any purchasers whose rights in and to such property have arisen subsequent to the weed and grass cutting prior to the filing of such notice, and the lien of the Village shall not be valid as to any mortgagee, judgement creditor or other lien or whose rights in and to such property arise prior to the filing of such notice. Upon payment of the cost and expense by the owner of or persons interested in such property after the Notice of Lien has been filed, the lien shall be released and the release may be filed on record as in the case of filing Notice of Lien.
D. In the event of a violation of any of the provisions of this Chapter 2 and in addition to such charges for cutting or weeds and grass that may be imposed, the public works supervisor may serve on the property owner a notice to appear at the Village Clerk's Office in Village Hall within seven (7) days and pay as a penalty in full for such violation, the sum of fifty dollars ($50.00). The failure of the violator to make such payment as aforesaid shall subject such property owner, upon conviction of such violation of this Chapter 2, to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more than five hundred dollars ($500.00). In any event, the public works supervisor shall proceed to cut weeds and grass in violation of this Chapter 2 and bill the property owner the Village's expense therefore.
E. The Village's attorney is authorized and directed to initiate litigation in the Small Claims Court of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit to recover weed cutting and liens, court costs and attorneys fees.
(Ord. 90-0-1, 1-17-90)