[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Albany 7-18-1983 by L.L. No. 2-1983 as Ch. VII, Art. II, Div. 7, of the 1983 Code; amended in its entirety 4-7-2008 by Ord. No. 20.31.08.[1] Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Auctions and auctioneers — See Ch. 121.
Businesses — See Ch. 141.
Collateral loan brokers — See Ch. 147.
Secondhand dealers — See Ch. 293.
Solid waste — See Ch. 313.
Zoning — See Ch. 375.
[1]
This ordinance was amended 5-5-2008 by Ord. No. 40.51.08(MC)(UC) to provide an effective date of 10-6-2008 for the provisions of Ord. No. 20.31.08.
[Amended 5-19-2008 by Ord. No. 25.42.08]
The City Clerk of the City of Albany is hereby authorized to issue licenses to citizens desiring to carry on the business of buying, selling and dealing in junk, rags, old rope, old iron, brass, copper, tin, lead, scrap metals or other old metals, old bottles, old glass, old bones, old tinware, old clothing unfit for wearing, old shoes or any secondhand articles except secondhand books and furniture upon payment annually, to the City of Albany, of the sum of $150 as a license fee for each and every license so issued.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
SCRAP METAL PROCESSING FACILITY
An establishment engaged primarily in the purchase, processing and shipment of ferrous and/or nonferrous scrap, the end product of which is the production of raw material for remelting purposes for steel mills, foundries, smelters, refiners, and similar users.
SCRAP METAL PROCESSOR
Any person, association, partnership or corporation operating and maintaining a scrap metal processing facility.
No person licensed as aforesaid shall receive, in the line of his business, any article or thing by way of pledge or pawn, nor shall he loan or advance any sum of money on the security of any such article or thing, nor shall any such person receive or purchase any goods, article or thing whatever from any person under the age of 18 years or from any person or persons whomsoever between the setting of the sun and the hour of 7:00 a.m.
A. 
Reporting.
(1) 
Every person licensed under the provisions of this chapter is hereby required to make a report to the Chief of Police of the City of Albany, or his representative, in such form as such Chief may prescribe, specifying all articles purchased or received by him during a period of time specified in such request, together with the name and residence of the person or persons from whom such purchases were made and to whom such articles were sold.
(2) 
Every junk dealer and scrap metal processor as defined by this chapter shall utilize the City's electronic pawn and scrap metal reporting system to make an electronic report, and the report shall be a full, true and complete report of all scrap metal purchased. The report shall show the hour of day when the scrap metal was purchased, amount purchased, a description of material purchased and the name and address of the person from whom the article was acquired. No items shall be received unless the person from whom the material is acquired exhibits a driver's license or state-issued ID card and the identifying number is recorded on the report.
(3) 
All transactions will be placed into the City's electronic pawn and scrap reporting system before the item in question is acquired. The pawn/scrap ticket number will be automatically generated by the City's electronic reporting system.
(4) 
Should there be a loss of power or a failure of the City's electronic pawn and scrap reporting system, every dealer must transmit the information as described in this section to the Chief of Police, or his representative, in writing, before 5:00 p.m. every day except Sunday, that such a loss of power or failure of the electronic system remains, and, if that day be Sunday, such reporting shall take place on the following business day.
B. 
Statements required from persons selling certain property. On purchasing any pig or pigs of metal, bronze or brass castings or parts thereof, sprues or gates or parts thereof, copper wire or brass car journals, or metal beer kegs, such junk dealer shall cause to be subscribed by the person from whom purchased a statement as to when, where and from whom he obtained such property, also his age, residence by city, village or town, and the street and number thereof, if any, and otherwise such description as will reasonably locate the same, his occupation and name of his employer and place of employment or business, which statement the junk dealer or scrap metal processor shall forthwith file with the Chief of Police or his representative.
No person or persons licensed to carry on business under the provisions of this chapter shall (during the continuance of such license) use, exercise or carry on the business or trade of a collateral loan broker, nor shall any collateral loan broker receive a license under the provisions of this chapter.
No person licensed pursuant to this chapter shall carry on any such business at any other house or place than the one designated in such license or continue to carry on such business after such license may have been revoked.
Every person licensed under the provisions of this chapter shall have and keep a sign on the outside and in front of his shop or other place used for carrying on such business, on which shall be plainly set forth in conspicuous letters and figures his name, his licensed business and the number of his said license; and, in case any person so licensed, as aforesaid, shall remove his shop or place of business from the place designated in said license, he or she shall immediately thereupon give notice to the City Clerk and have the same endorsed upon such license, and the number of his shop or place of business shall thereupon be changed upon the sides of the cart or wagon used by such licensed person and made to correspond with such change of shop or place of business.
Every person licensed under the provisions of this chapter shall, when engaged in the business described in § 239-1 hereof or in soliciting, purchasing or receiving any of the articles mentioned herein, wear on the breast of his coat in a conspicuous place a metallic badge, which shall contain in legible, large-sized letters and figures the words "licensed junk dealer" and the number of his license.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances of the City of Albany relating to junk dealers or inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter are hereby repealed.
[Amended 5-19-2008 by Ord. No. 25.42.08]
Every person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment in the Albany County Penitentiary for a term not exceeding six months, or both such fine and imprisonment, and in addition thereto shall be liable to a penalty of $50 for each and every day any such provision shall be violated.