The Watertown City Council is looking to auction abandoned bicycles in the city and encourages cyclists to take steps to keep their bikes secure.
Councilor Cliff Olney stressed the importance of bike registration during a city council meeting.
"I think that we could make a bigger effort to have bikes registered," Olney said. "Make it more understood by people who have a bike in the city, that it's easy to get a registration for the bike so that the number would be known and if it were picked up that it could be returned to the owner from whom it was taken."
Bike licenses can be obtained at the Police Department's Records Window for $1. This can help police return bikes to their rightful owner — something that can be difficult if a bike is not registered or does not have any identifying marks.
For bikes that don't get claimed Olney suggested the city look into alternatives to an auction.
"Maybe find a program where we can get some of those bikes into the hands of people whose families cannot afford to get a bike for their kids," Olney said.
Mayor Jeff Smith said to contact the police department if you have your bike stolen
"If somebody something stolen they would contact the police department," Smith said. "I'm kind of curious why people don't. It's dumbfounding to me. I mean, if I had my bicycle stolen and my kid's bike stolen, why wouldn't [I] contact the police department, report it and go check out what bikes are there?"
Bikes will be auctioned online at Auctions International.
