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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-020 Council Ordinances1 s' Reading: 9/ 2 6/ 2 01 1 Publication: 1 0/ 1 8/ 2 01 1 2"d Reading: 1 n / 1 n / 9 n 1 1 Effective: 1 1/ 1 7/ 2 01 1 Council Member 0' Donnell moved for adoption of the following ordinance: CITY OF LINO LAKES ORDINANCE NO. 20-11 AMENDING CHAPTER 213 OF THE LINO LAKES CODE OF ORDINANCES RELATING TO UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. The City Council of Lino Lakes ordains: Section 1. That Section 213, Subdivision 7, of the above -entitled ordinance be amended to read as follows: 213.01 UNCLAIMED PROPERTY DEFINED. UNCLAIMED PROPERTY means any money or personal property, except animals and motor vehicles, lawfully coming into the possession of the city and remaining unclaimed by the owner. 213.02 PROCEDURE. (1) General. The Chief of Police shall make a reasonable and diligent effort to find the owner of any unclaimed property and restore the same to him or her. (2) Motor vehicles. Abandoned motor vehicles shall be disposed of as provided by M.S. Ch. 168B, as it may be amended from time to time. 213.03 FOUND PROPERTY. A receipt shall be issued to any person who finds lost or abandoned property or money and delivers it to the custody of the city. The person may indicate in writing that he or she wished to assert a claim to the property or money as a finder. If the finder so indicates, and the property or money remains unclaimed by the owner for 60 days, the property or money shall be delivered to the finders. 213.04 PERISHABLE OR DANGEROUS PROPERTY. Any unclaimed property which is perishable, or which would lose the greater part of its value by being retained for 60 days, or which is determined by the Chief of Police to be dangerous shall be disposed of at the discretion of the Chief of Police in the manner deemed appropriate by him or her. 213.05 MONEY. Any money which is not claimed by the owner within 60 days or by a finder pursuant to § 213.03, or which was seized from illegal gambling, shall be deposited in the city's general fund. 213.06 PROPERTY SEIZED AS EVIDENCE. Any property seized as evidence shall, when no longer needed as evidence, be returned to the owner, unless otherwise subject to lawful detention. The property which is otherwise subject to lawful detention shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as directed by the court. 213.07 DISPOSAL. (1) City use. Any unclaimed property for which no other manner of disposal is provided by §§ 213.01 through 213.06 and which is not claimed by the owner within 60 days may be appropriated to city use upon approval of the appropriation by the Council. (2) Sale. Any property described in division (1) which is not appropriated to city use shall be sold to the highest bidder at public auction in a manner that provides access for the public, following at least one published proper notice not less than done week prior to the auction sale. The notice shall contain the following information: (a) The date, time and place -location or electronic medium of the sale; (b) The general description of the property to be sold; (c) Whether or not the property will be sold piecemeal or otherwise; (d) The terms of payment; and (e) (d) manner in which the sale shall be conducted. (3) Proceeds. The proceeds of any sale shall be placed in the general fund of the city, or in any other fund of the city as the City Council may, from time to time, designate by resolution. The former owner of any property so sold may claim the sale price of the sale of the former property within six months from the date of the sale from the fund; provided, however, that the former owner shall only be entitled to the sale price upon proof of the former ownership and less reasonable expenses incurred in the storage, care, keeping and sale of the property. (4) Unsold property. Any unclaimed property remaining unsold after public auction -the attempted sale shall be disposed of as directed by the Council. est Julianne Barte 1, City Clerk Adopted by the Lino Lakes City Council this 10 day of Oct, 2011. The motion for the adoption of the foregoing ordinance was duly seconded by Council Member Roeser and upon a vote being taken thereon, the following voted in favor thereof: O'Donnell, Roeser, Rafferty, Reinert The following voted against same: none (Absent 7 Gallup) Whereupon said ordinance was declared duly passed and adopted. AGENDA ITEM 4B STAFF ORIGINATOR: John E. Swenson, Chief of Police COUNCIL MEETING DATE: October 10, 2011 TOPIC: Unclaimed Property Ordinance Second Reading of Ordinance 20-11, Amending Chapter 213.07 of the Lino Lakes Code of Ordinances regarding Unclaimed Property ii. Consider Resolution No. 11-102, summarizing Ordinance No. 20-11 for publication purposes. BACKGROUND: The City sells property/equipment which is no longer needed for City use, is not claimed, or is forfeited through legal proceedings. The current ordinance (213.07 Disposal) only affords the City the ability to sell property through public auction. This current practice does not allow the City to leverage technology to maximize revenues for the City. Furthermore, the requirement of a public auction creates a stockpile of property at the City's public works facility which has generated complaints from neighbors. ANALYSIS If these changes are adopted the City will benefit in the following areas: 1. Increased revenue from the sale of the property. Currently we sell city property at an auction with multiple government entities; therefore there is a surplus of like equipment being sold on the same day in a fixed time frame. This creates a saturated market which drives the price paid for items down, which decreases the revenue to the City. Other cities have experienced an increase in revenues by making these types of proposed changes. 2. The current auction schedule is two per year. This creates storage/crowding issues at the Public Works facility. If the proposed changes are adopted property can be sold as soon as it becomes available. This would relieve some of the storage problems currently experienced at the Public Works facility. 3. The proposed change would also give the City options in the manner in which the public is notified of the sale of public property. Currently, all notification must be published in the newspaper. This requirement creates an expense to the City and limits the scope of the notification. If the proposed changes are adopted, the City would have other notification options available, such as use of the City's website as its avenue to notify the public. The proposed changes have been reviewed and approved by City Attorney Joe Langel for legal compliance The Council approved first reading of this ordinance on September 26, 2011. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of the Second Reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 20-11, Amending Chapter 213.07 of the Lino Lakes Code of Ordinances regarding Unclaimed Property ii. Staff recommends approval of Resolution No. 11-102, summarizing Ordinance No. 20-11 for publication purposes. ATTACHMENTS 1. Chapter 213.07