[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and City Council of the City of Monroe as Chapter 660, Sec. 660.11, of the 1995 Codified Ordinances of Monroe; amended 8-12-1996 by Ord. No. 96-018; 9-4-2001 by Ord. No. 01-019 8-1-2005 by Ord. No. 05-008]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CART
Any rolling or nonrolling container or basket made of wire, metal, wood or other material commonly used in supermarkets, self-service stores or markets for transporting merchandise or foodstuffs within the establishments and from the business establishment to a motor vehicle or other building.
No person shall leave or abandon, on any public street, sidewalk or any other public place in the City, any cart from any business establishment, market or food-dispensing establishment.
No store, supermarket or business establishment shall provide to or make available for use by any person a cart which can be removed from the premises of the store, supermarket or business establishment, unless the cart shall have securely attached to it a metallic or plastic identification tag or plate identifying the store, supermarket or business establishment.
The Police Department may conduct inspections of any premises where carts are provided and available for use during business hours in order to inspect such carts for proper identification tags.
A. 
The Police Chief shall remove or cause to be removed any cart found abandoned in any public place. Such cart shall be impounded at any City-owned storage facility available for such purpose.
B. 
The Police Department shall notify the owner of the cart by ordinary mail within three days of such impoundment.
C. 
The owner may reclaim the cart for $10 within 15 days of the date of the notice of impounding.
Carts remaining unclaimed or unredeemed beyond the 15 days after notice shall be disposed of by public auction. Notice of such auction shall be given at least 14 days before the auction in a newspaper of general circulation in the City.
A. 
If any impounded carts remain unsold at public sale, the Chief of Police may dismantle, destroy, sell or dispose of the unclaimed carts in any manner.
B. 
Any public sale or other disposition of the carts shall be without liability on the part of the City to the owner of the carts or any other person legally entitled to or having an interest therein.
A. 
Within 30 days of redemption of the property, the Chief of Police shall pay over to the Clerk/Treasurer the amount received for the redemption.
B. 
At the same time, the Chief of Police shall deliver to the Clerk/Treasurer a detailed statement concerning the redemption. The statement shall include:
(1) 
Identity of the property;
(2) 
The name and address of the redemptor; and
(3) 
The amount received from the redemptor.
A violation of § 576-2, 576-3 or 576-4 above is a municipal civil infraction and shall subject the violator to the penalties as provided in § 1-27 of the Code of the City of Monroe. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.