Salt Lake City Council Approves Resolution to Donate Unclaimed Bikes to the SLC Bike Collective
11-6-09 (Salt Lake City) — The Salt Lake City Council unanimously approved a resolution last night that will allow Salt Lake City to donate all unclaimed bicycles held by the Salt Lake City Police Department to the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective.
“We have experienced a tremendous demand for bicycles this year and this influx of bicycles will help those in need, specifically those in need of transportation,” said an elated Jonathan Morrison, Executive Director of the Collective. “The Collective would like to publicly thank the Mayor’s Office, specifically Matt Lyon, David Everitt, and Mayor Becker as well as the City Council for collaboration on this resolution.”
SLCPD holds bicycles that are abandoned, recovered as stolen property, or as evidence in cases. The bikes are held for a specified amount of time (generally 90 days) and attempts are made to contact the owner of the bicycle. If the bicycle is unclaimed after that time period, then the bikes are deemed surplus and have in the past been auctioned off or disposed of.
The new program will see that the bikes are put back on the streets to serve the residents of Salt Lake City and County. The Collective will repair and service the bikes as needed and provide those bikes to low-income residents or non-profit organizations. Putting the bikes back on the streets helps to increase the level of cycling in Salt Lake City and benefits the City and its residents by reducing air pollution and carbon output, increasing the health of its residents, and providing transportation solutions to its low-income residents.
The resolution was the result of a year-long process of that required the drafting of an agreement between Salt Lake City and the Collective, conducting a Doug Short analysis to show that the donated items would improve the public good, and much hard work from Matt Lyon of the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office. The Mayor’s Office, the Collective, the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, SLC Police Department, the Salt Lake City Council and Staff, and the City Attorney’s Office contributed to the process.
The approval of the resolution should result in the donation of approximately 100-200 bikes per year to the Collective given current levels of unclaimed bicycles. The resolution provides for a cap of 400 bikes per year to be donated to the Collective.
The draft agreement and resolution can be viewed here: http://www.slcgov.com/council/agendas/2009agendas/Nov5/110509C5.pdf
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The Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee (MBAC) is an all volunteer advocacy organization whose purpose is to promote, enhance, preserve and, where necessary, restore physical, social, political and economic environments in which bicycling is recognized as an essential element of a clean, healthy, and vital community. For information, contact Dave Iltis, Chair [email protected] or visit slcgov.com/bike.
The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. For more information, including crank addiction, visit www.slcbikecollective.org or call 801-FAT-BIKE.
