Ordinance No. 12-1

AN ORDINANCE DEFINING OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC PROPERTY AND PLACES AND PRESCRIBING A PENALTY FOR THE VIOLATION THEREOF

Table of Contents

Section 1. Violation a Misdemeanor.

The violation of any of the sections of this ordinance by any person shall be deemed a misdemeanor. The violation of each section hereof shall be deemed a separate violation, each to be deemed a separate misdemeanor.

Section 2. Excavations to Be Guarded.

Every person who shall have charge of the construction of any excavation or obstruction adjacent to or under any sidewalk or street shall during the progress of such work cause such excavation to be securely guarded by a fence with at least 2 strings of good 6-inch boards nailed not less than 18 inches apart to posts securely fixed in place; such posts shall be not more than 6 feet apart, and the top of the highest post shall be not less than 4 feet and a half from the surface of the sidewalk or street, and from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise, said person shall illuminate such excavation or obstruction with lights sufficient in number and so placed as to show the full extent thereof.

Section 3. Removing Barricades.

No person shall remove, throw down, run over, or interfere with any barricade or barricades lawfully directed, placed to guard and protect any grading, paving, sidewalk construction, or other work.

Section 4. Injuring Uncompleted Construction.

No person shall walk upon, drive, or ride over or cross any pavement in course of construction before the same has been opened for public travel, or over or across any uncompleted grading, or sidewalk construction which has not been opened for travel.

Section 5. Blasting Precautions.

No person shall blast or cause to be blasted within 300 feet of any building of this City, rocks or other material without having the same covered by good sound timber, or sheet metal of sufficient weight, length, and thickness, and placed effectively so as to prevent fragments of rock or other material blasted from ascending into the air, or shall fail to notify persons approaching the scene of any blasting that blasting is being done.

Section 6. Placing Objects on Public Highways.

No person shall place, throw, or cause to be placed or thrown on any street, alley, sidewalk, or other public property any glass, tacks, nails, bottles, or other substances or things that might wound any person or animal, or cut or puncture any pneumatic tire when passing over the same.

Section 7. Spilling Substances in Streets.

No person shall haul over the streets or alleys of this City any loose material of any kind, except in a vehicle having a tight box so constructed as to prevent the splashing or spilling of any of the substances therein contained upon said streets or alleys.

Section 8. Hitching and Picketing Animals.

No person shall hitch any animal to any lamppost, hydrant, water trough, drinking fountain, shrub, or shade tree, or picket any animal in any of the streets, alleys, parks, or public grounds of the City.

Section 9. Obstructing Sidewalks.

No person shall leave or allow to be left any implements, tools, boxes, merchandise, goods, trash, cans, crates, corn poppers, peanut roasters, ice cream containers, advertising or showcases on any sidewalk or other public way longer than is necessary for loading or unloading the same.

Section 10. Maintaining Sidewalk Level.

No owner of any property having a sidewalk adjacent thereto shall permit any plank, brick, stone, or segment of said sidewalk to be raised above the established level of said sidewalk more than one-half inch, in any manner which might catch the foot of a pedestrian, or shall permit any holes or depressions to occur in the sidewalk in which a pedestrian might step or catch his foot in a manner liable to cause injury.

Section 11. Posting Bills.

No person shall put up any handbills, advertisements, posters, show bills, or other signs on any building, pole, or property not his own, without permission from the owner thereof.

Section 12. Defacing Public Property.

No person shall cut, carve, mark, etch, or engrave any character, figure, letter, or name upon any building owned, occupied, or used by the City, or shall in any manner mar, deface, or injure any tree, shrub, plant, vine, or any other public property in, on, or around the grounds upon which such building is situated.

Section 13. Willful Destruction of Public Park Property.

No person shall willfully and without authority cut, pluck, or otherwise injure any flowers, shrubs, or trees growing in or around any public park or other public grounds of the City or shall willfully injure or destroy any stand, bench, or other property situated on such park or ground.

Section 14. Interference with Public Sewers and Culverts.

No person shall willfully injure or destroy, or attempt to injure or destroy, any public sewer or culvert or shall molest any sewer or culvert or any part of said sewer or culvert, by removing the cover of any flask tank, manhole, or other part of said public sewer system or culvert, without authority to do so.

Section 15. Withholding City Property.

No person shall take possession of any property, real or personal, belonging to the City, or to the possession of which the City shall be entitled, or shall commit any trespass thereon, or shall unlawfully withhold the property from the City, and the unlawful withholding of such property, after demand therefor has been made under the direction of the City Council, shall be deemed a new and separate offense for every day the possession is withheld after such demand.

Section 16. Deposits on Sidewalks.

Whenever any lot or piece of land abutting on any sidewalk shall become or remain in such a condition that earth or other substances therefrom accumulate on such sidewalk, and the owner of such lot or piece of land shall refuse or neglect to place the same in such a condition as to prevent such washing or accumulation on such sidewalk, such owner shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and each day that such owner shall refuse or neglect to abate said condition after notice from the Street Commissioner shall constitute a separate offense.

Section 17. Interference with Sidewalks.

No person shall loosen or remove any plank, brick, block, or support from any sidewalk, crosswalk, curbing or gutter, provided, however, that this section shall not apply to persons making repairs on any sidewalk, temporarily removing the same on account of building operations.

Section 18. Restriction of Awning.

No person shall construct or install, or cause to be constructed or installed, any awning which is supported in whole or in part by posts or other supports set into the sidewalk or street.

Section 19. Throwing or Batting Balls on Streets, Etc.

No person shall throw or bat any ball, stone, or other hard substance into, on, or across any street or alley, or at or against any public building or vehicle, or at or toward any person, so as to endanger any person or the property of another.

Section 20. Fire Department Property.

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to interfere with or injure any property belonging to the Fire Department of the City of Mazeppa or to take or remove any of said property from the City Fire Department building; provided, however, that the terms of the section of this ordinance shall not apply to the firemen of the City of Mazeppa while in discharge of their duties.

Section 21. Driving Over Fire Hose.

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to drive any vehicle over any fire hose belonging to the Fire Department of the City of Mazeppa laid in the streets at the occurrence of any fire in said City without the permission of the duly appointed Fire Chief.

Section 22. Water, Sewer, and Electrical Equipment.

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to tap, cut into, connect, or an any manner or way interfere with any water pipe, water main, or sewer pipe of the City of Mazeppa, or to take or carry away any tools or implements from the Public Works Department of said City, or in any way or manner to hinder, destroy, or interfere with any part of the water works or apparatus belonging to the City of Mazeppa, whether on public or private grounds, without having first obtained permission therefor in writing from the Public Works Director.