No person shall leave or cause to be left any property within
the custody of the City of Lapeer or upon any premises owned or controlled
by the City of Lapeer except by the express consent of the City of
Lapeer.
For any and all property coming into the possession of the City of Lapeer in violation of §
33-1, including lost, stolen, abandoned or other property surrendered to any agent of the City, or recovered by any agent of the City, other than motor vehicles, the City of Lapeer is hereby authorized to charge a reasonable fee for services rendered in the safekeeping of said property, plus all other expenses incurred in moving, packaging, storing, handling, or otherwise safekeeping of said property.
The City Manager shall have custody of said property. The property
shall be surrendered to the true owner or last lawful possessor upon
proper proof thereof and upon payment of the charges as provided herein;
provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall be construed
as obligating release of property being held as evidence or pursuant
to court order.
After the expiration of six months from the date the City first
acquired custody of any money, said money shall be placed in the general
fund of the City of Lapeer.
If any article is not claimed and charges paid within six months
from the date the City first acquired custody, the City Manager may
proceed to sell the articles at public sale in accordance with the
following procedure:
A. Prior to any public sale, the Lapeer City Manager shall post a notice
thereof in the Lapeer City Hall and shall publish said notice in a
newspaper of general circulation in the City of Lapeer at least one
week prior to sale.
B. Said notice of publication shall describe any property held for sale,
together with the time and place of public sale at which said property
may be purchased by the highest bidder. The highest bidder shall receive
a bill of sale for the property purchased form the City of Lapeer.
C. If no bids received for the purchase of any property, it shall be
conclusively presumed that said property is of no value, and it shall
be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as directed by the Lapeer City
Commission.
After the holding of the public sale, the money received from
such sale, after deducting the cost of conducting the sale and all
expenses incurred in the safekeeping of said property, to the extent
permitted by law, shall be turned over to the City Treasurer to be
credited to the general fund.
Neither the Lapeer City Manager nor the Manager's representative
or designee shall be liable to the owner of property disposed of in
the manner provided by this chapter.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to property being
disposed of pursuant to the direction or order of any court or magistrate,
or to motor vehicles, or to contraband or other forfeited property,
where other statutory sale procedures are provided.
This chapter shall take effect on the 15th day of June 1979.