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Sgt. �/ia�� Marshall January 8, 2007 Page 2 Discussion Initially we note that the City's Ordinance does not expressly authorize the donation of abandoned and unclaimed property. City Ordinance Section 508.01 actually restricts the methods of disposal of unclaimed property: "Disposal shall be by sale to the highest bidder at public auction or sale." (emphasis added.) Donation and otlz�r methods of disposal are not included. The City could revise its Ordinance to authorize additional methods of disposal beyond sale of unclaimed property. Minnesota Stat. L 471.195 grants cities i:h� power to provide for. the custody and disposal of property that lawfully eo�n�s into its possession through adoption of an ordinance. The statute specifically provides that a city �� dispose of property by sale by auction, sale, or private sale through a nonprofit organization. importantly, the statute does not mandate sale as tl�e only method of disposal. Subdivision 2 of the statute expressly provides that t�� statute "does not limit the power of any municipality under any other statutory or charter authority." This means that Minn. Stat. � 471.195 does not prohibit the City from utilizing alternative methods of dis�aos��, �as long as the City adopts an appropriate ordinance, and the method of disposal meets other statutory requirements. An ordinance amendment authorizing donation of unclaimed bicycles i n�� also malce provision for the rights of the original owner. Minn. Stat. � 471.195, as well as Ordinance 508.01, give an original owner six months after the sale of the unclaimed property to present the city with satisfactory proof of ownership of the property. If the original owner presents such proof, the city is obligated to turn over the net proceeds of the sale. This means that holding the property for sixty days, notice, and sale of the unclaimed property do not extinguish the rights of the original owner. Rather, six months must elapse before the owner's rights are completely extinguished. We believe that this same ti�� period would apply to alternative methods of disposal including donation. Stated a�oti�e� way. bicycle owners should get six months in which to malce a claim regardless of whether the bicycles were sold or donated. We recommend that the City require notice of the donation in a sii�i�ar manner as that required by City Ordinance and Minn. Stat. � 471.195 for public sales of unclaimed property. �� addition, to prevent a situation in which an individual provides satisfactory proof of ownership of a bicycle within six months of tlae donation, we suggest that the bicycles be held for six months before the donation is effective and the bicycles are physically transferred. We drafted a proposed Ordinance aX�ae��c3t�e�.i that incorporates our recQ��tdaii�n� as � stated above: