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HomeMy WebLinkAbout151 - 01/15/2008 - AMENDING CITY CODE SECTIONS 23-127 AND 23-130 PERTAINING TO DISPOSITION OF STOLEN, FOUND OR ABANDONE ORDINANCE NO. 151, 2007 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING CITY CODE SECTIONS 23-127 AND 23-130 PERTAINING TO DISPOSITION OF STOLEN, FOUND OR ABANDONED PERSONAL PROPERTY WHEREAS, Transportation Planning has worked with the Fort Collins Bike Co-op, a P g P, component of Friends of the Fort Collins Bicycle Program, Inc., a local non-profit organization commonly known as "Bike Fort Collins", to enhance the use of bicycles in the City including the creation of a program to recycle unclaimed,lost or abandoned bicycles back into the community(the "Recycled Bike Project"); and WHEREAS, the current manner of disposing of the unclaimed, lost or abandoned bicycles is to hold them in evidence at Fort Collins Police Services and then, after forty(40)days, ship any unclaimed bicycles to California for auction at considerable expense to the City; and WHEREAS, the Fort Collins Police Services Evidence Unit and the physical space for propertyand evidence storage at Fort Collins Police Services can no longer accommodate the storage of non-evidentiary, unclaimed bicycles; and WHEREAS,the proposed Recycled Bike Project will significantly reduce the storage issue at Fort Collins Police Services by serving as the clearinghouse for any unclaimed,lost or abandoned bicycles; and WHEREAS the Recycled Bike Project will immediately notify Fort Collins Police Services of the serial number of bicycles it receives and the case officer will either authorize release of the bicycle to its rightful owner or require the Recycle Bike Project to transport it to the Fort Collins Police Services Evidence Unit for storage as evidence; and WHEREAS,all other unclaimed, lost or abandoned bicycles will be stored for 30 days after which their serial numbers will again be submitted to Fort Collins Police Services and if they remain unclaimed a description of the bicycles will be sent to the Purchasing Agent to be advertised as unclaimed property as required by Code; and WHEREAS,if any bicycles remain unclaimed after the Purchasing Agent has advertised the descriptions, ownership of the bicycles will be transferred to the future Fort Collins Bike Library program which is planned to begin in 2008,or to the Recycled Bike Project for use in that program, or otherwise disposed of pursuant to the Purchasing Agent's policies and guidelines; and WHEREAS, any bicycles transferred to the Recycled Bike Project will be inspected and returned to the community through several community-focused programs such as the Earn-a-Bike program, or through donations to "at risk" youth (ages 10-17) and individuals or families who qualify as financially challenged; and WHEREAS,any bicycles that cannot,after inspection,be repaired or reused will be reduced to their component parts and recycled so as to ensure that no bicycle frames or parts enter the landfill; and WHEREAS, the City Council believes it to be in the best interests of the health, safety and welfare of the community and the citizens of Fort Collins to amend the City Code to authorize this program. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That Section23-127oftheCodeoftheCityofFortCollinsis hereby amended to read as follows: See. 23-127. Disposition of stolen property. (a) The provisions in this Division shall control the disposition of all stolen property found, seized or otherwise delivered into the possession of the City and remaining unclaimed by the lawful owner. (b) Upon a determination that property coming into the possession of the City is stolen or as soon thereafter as is practicable, such property shall be delivered to the Chief of Police as custodian, who shall keep a record of all such property together with the date when and the place from which the property was obtained. (c) With respect to bicycles, any bicycle that is identified as stolen and that is no longer necessary as evidence in a criminal prosecution may be delivered to Transportation Planning and disposed of pursuant to § 23-130. Section 2. That Section 23-130 (1), (2) and (3) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins are hereby amended to read as follows: See. 23-130. Disposition of lost, abandoned or other unclaimed property. Except as otherwise specifically provided for by law or ordinance, any property seized or otherwise obtained by the City and not sold or destroyed as perishable, hazardous or illegal property and which property has not been claimed by or surrendered to the rightful owner may be disposed of in the following manner: (1) All such property must first be retained for a period of no less than thirty(30) days from the date that possession was acquired by the City; (2) After the expiration of such period of time and as soon thereafter as is practicable, the purchasing agent must cause to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City a general description of the -2- articles of property to be disposed of, which notice must contain the following information: a. Tthat a detailed list of each and all articles of such property is available and may be obtained from Purchasing, including the address and the hours during which such list may be obtained; b. That if such property is not claimed by the rightful owner within ten(10) calendar days from the date of the publication, such property will become the property of the City to be disposed of by public auction or otherwise and if by public auction provide the date, place and location of any such public auction. (3) If within ten (10) days from the publication of the notice, no claim for such property described in the notice shall have been made by the rightful owner, such property shall become the property of the City and shall be disposed of in the following manner: a. Any property which was delivered to the City, the possession or use of which is not illegal or dangerous, may be returned to the person who delivered the same to the City. The City shall thereupon relinquish any claim of ownership to such property and shall thereafter be relieved of any liability to the original owner of such property or any other person; b. Any other such property may,in the discretion of the Purchasing Agent, be retained and used by the City in the administration of City affairs or for use in City or community events or programs, so long as the use and distribution of such property is in accordance with the Purchasing Agent's established policies and guidelines approved by the City Manager; c. All other property shall be sold at public auction in the manner and upon the terms described in the above notice, with the proceeds of any such sale or sales to be paid to the Financial Officer to be placed in the general fund of the City after deducting the cost of storage, advertising and selling. d. Any unclaimed property which is of little or no marketable value maybe destroyed. -3- Introduced and considered favorably on first readi rdered published this lAth day of December, A.D. 2007,and to be presented for final pas ge the I t da Jan A.D 08. Mayor ATTEST: 4uL�k A City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading this 15th day nuary, A�D. 2008. Mayor ATTEST:: " City Clerk -4-