City to donate unclaimed bicycles to local nonprofit

The McAlester Police Department will soon donate dozens of abandoned bicycles to a local nonprofit for the holidays.

Mayor John Browne and Police Chief Kevin Hearod said they wanted to donate 19 abandoned children’s bicycles to a local nonprofit for the holiday season before city councilors acted on several agenda items during the Dec. 12, 2023 regular meeting to open the doors for that to happen.

"I got to thinking that we have a whole lot of things that are abandoned — most specifically in this case, bicycles — and it being Christmastime and lots of people needing help at Christmas, it would be really great if we could declare those bikes surplus and get them to an entity that can get them to kids," Browne said.

"We've got bicycles on our list that we've had since 2016 and it's a need in our community so this will help fix that," Hearod said.

Councilors approved an ordinance setting procedure for lost and found items that have not been claimed after 90 days. The ordinance authorizes the police chief to dispose of lost and found items by public sale, destruction, donation, or transfer for use to a government entity. The ordinance authorizes the police chief to deposit lost money into the Police Equipment Fund.

If no owner appears at a public hearing to establish ownership of the property, the council may authorize the police chief to donate property of no more than $500 value to a nonprofit organization or sell the property to the highest bidder. All proceeds from such sales shall be deposited in the Police Equipment Fund.

Councilors also approved declaring 19 bicycles abandoned for roughly 2-7 years as surplus, including a description of each one that listed the make and color. Plans call for the bikes to be donated to the Youth Emergency Shelter in McAlester.