Public Office Hours:
Monday - Thursday
7:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.
Friday
8:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M., Pacific Time
Phone:
Main Office:
(509) 667-6576
Fax:
(509) 667-6561
Address:
Chelan County Noxious Weed Control Board
400 Washington St
Wenatchee, WA 98801
E-mail:
Noxious Weed Control Board
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CHELAN COUNTY NOXIOUS WEED CONTROL BOARD
POLICY NO.05-11-94
ENFORCEMENT POLICY
Small or new infestations on any given parcel will not be tolerated. Control measures will be determined by Board Policy for a given noxious weed. Scattered infestations across any given parcel will require complete control.
On large infestations, buffer zones will be required between adjacent parcels, if necessary, and shall be entirely located on the parcel containing the weed infestation. Non-wind borne seed bearing noxious weeds shall have a buffer zone approximately 100 feet wide. Wind borne seed bearing noxious weeds shall have a buffer zone approximately 300 feet wide.
Upon finding of a weed infestation the location may be marked with a colored stake and/or flag to aid in following visits and/or control action. Should there be multiple infestations in the vicinity, only one site need be staked per parcel. A Weed Control Notice will then be mailed by certified mail to the landowner and a photocopy sent by regular mail to the operator if different.
The notice asks that the responsible party outline the control action planned or already taken on the infestation(s) in question with the Coordinator. If the Weed control Notice is issued early enough in the growing season, more than 10 days may be allowed for the responsible party to outline a control plan or for control action to be taken. This decision will be left up to the discretion of the Coordinator and determined by the weed species and its stage of growth. Under no circumstances will a deadline of less than 10 days, such as a 48 Hour Notice, be issued without approval from the Board.
If a plan has been outlined, but not carried out as described, enforcement action by the Weed Board can be initiated at any time once the 10 days have expired. Should the Weed Control Notice be ignored, immediate control action by the Board may be carried out on the 11th day after the postmarked date of said notice if continued existence of the noxious weed infestation has been verified.
All enforcements, whether "friendly" or "unfriendly" will be approved by the Board prior to the beginning of control action. The Coordinator shall submit all cases with expired deadlines or deadlines that will expire between regularly scheduled board meetings for Board approval at the board meetings. Approval outside the board meetings will be limited to unanticipated enforcements. This provisional approval by the Board will be made with the understanding that enforcement will not take place without all efforts being made by the Coordinator to avoid the necessity of carrying out the enforcement action. The information provided to the Directors will include the number of acres, the type of land, the weeds to be controlled, and the estimated amount of the control cost.
As intermediate enforcement step may be taken at the discretion of the Coordinator in those instances where the stage of growth permits a delay in enforced control. This step will consist of a letter stating that enforcement will commence on a given date if adequate control has not taken place and contains a warning that failure to notify the Weed Board when control is completed as required in the Weed Control Notice may cause the landowner to become liable for duplicate control measures in the event signs of an adequate "kill" are not yet apparent by the enforcement date.
The Coordinator shall use imminent seed set as the criteria from which to base the decision to proceed with an enforcement at a given time.
The Coordinator will schedule a contractor for enforcement action and then contact the landowner the night before the control action is scheduled to take place. The landowner may not be contacted sooner than the night before the enforcement action is scheduled, but may be contacted the next morning if contact cannot be made the night before.
The night before contact will consist of a statement that enforcement action will begin the following day/today on the landowner's property and the landowner will be advised against taking any further control action as any double control costs will be the landowner's responsibility.
If the landowner cannot be contacted ( out of town, on vacation, unlisted telephone number, etc.), approval must be received from the Board prior to proceeding with the enforcement action. This approval will be obtained by the Coordinator contacting the Chairman, who must receive approval from a majority of the Board before authorizing the Coordinator to proceed.
In the interest of avoiding charges of harassment, no further contact will be required by the Coordinator to the landowner in the event of delays in scheduled enforcement work due to weather conditions or contractor injury/illness.
If enforcement action is required on the same property and same owner two consecutive years, then the Chelan County Noxious Weed Control Board may issue a notice of civil infraction as outlined in R.C.W. 17.10.
(Adopted 05-94)
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