The following terms when used in this chapter shall have the meanings
indicated:
ABANDONED SHOPPING CART
A shopping cart left unattended in any public place for more than
five minutes, whether or not the shopping cart is empty.
PUBLIC PLACE
Includes any municipal street, municipal sidewalk, municipal parking
field, or other publicly owned place within the Village.
SHOPPING CART
Includes any cart, basket, container, or other device made of wire,
metal, plastic, or other material or combination of such materials, mounted
on wheels, manually operated, and designed and/or used for the conveyance
of goods and property.
VILLAGE
The Village of Port Washington North.
Every person who owns or makes available to the public in connection
with the conduct of business and trade within the Village any shopping cart
shall mark or cause the same to be marked and identified conspicuously with
the name and address of the owner. Such identification shall be in the form
of metal tags securely fastened to the shopping cart, or a cutting or stamping
on the frame of the shopping cart, or in such other manner approved by the
Superintendent.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be
punishable by a fine not to exceed $100. The fine is to be paid in addition
to any fees for redemption of an impounded shopping cart or cost of sale chargeable
to the owner of an impounded shopping cart as hereinafter provided. Each shopping
cart that does not have the required identification tag shall be deemed a
separate and distinct violation. Each day that a shopping cart does not have
the required identification tag shall be deemed a separate and distinct violation.
Each abandoned shopping cart shall be deemed a separate and distinct violation.
Each day that a shopping cart is abandoned, shall be deemed a separate and
distinct violation.
Whenever the Superintendent shall take possession of any abandoned shopping
cart, and such abandoned shopping cart contains identification of ownership,
a notice shall be sent by ordinary mail to such person purporting to be the
owner, advising that such shopping cart is held by the Superintendent and
advising the owner of the amount necessary to redeem the shopping cart.
In the event that any abandoned shopping cart remains unredeemed in
the custody of the Superintendent for a period of 15 days after removal and
with respect to which no person has presented satisfactory proof establishing
such person’s ownership or authorization from the owner to the Superintendent,
the Superintendent shall give public notice in the official newspaper of the
Village, advising that at a specified place and time, not less than five days
after such notice is published, such shopping cart will be sold at public
auction to the highest bidder. A general description in such notice of the
shopping cart to be sold shall be sufficient. Such sales shall be conducted
by the Superintendent or any employee of the Village designated by the Superintendent,
the Village Clerk, or the Village Board of Trustees.
In the event that any shopping cart shall remain unsold at public auction,
the Superintendent may reoffer such shopping cart for sale at a subsequent
public auction held pursuant to this chapter or have it dismantled, destroyed,
or otherwise disposed of. Any such sale or other disposition of such shopping
cart pursuant to this chapter shall be without any liability on the part of
the Superintendent or the Village to the owner of such shopping cart or any
other person lawfully entitled thereto or having an interest therein.
Immediately after an abandoned shopping cart is redeemed, the Superintendent
shall pay over to the Treasurer the amount received for the redemption. Immediately
after a sale or other disposition of an abandoned shopping cart, the Superintendent
shall pay to the Treasurer the proceeds of sale or other disposition of such
shopping cart, with an itemized statement of the shopping cart sold, the price
received, and the costs and expenses of sale, and the Treasurer shall retain
so much of the proceeds as equals the costs and expenses of such sale plus
$25 for such shopping cart sold, to cover the cost of removing and storing
the shopping cart; the remainder of the moneys realized from such sale or
other disposition shall be held by the Treasurer and paid, without interest,
to the lawful owner thereof as determined by the identification, if any, on
the shopping cart so sold or otherwise disposed of, so long as such owner
files a verified claim form for such payment with the Village Clerk within
one year from the date of such sale. In the event that the owner does not
file a verified claim form for such funds within one year from the date of
the sale, such funds shall be deemed abandoned and shall be deposited by the
Treasurer in the Village’s general fund and there shall
be no further liability for such shopping cart or such funds on the part of
the Superintendent or the Village to the owner of such shopping cart or any
other person lawfully entitled thereto or having an interest therein.