City Council Approves Items for Auction

Need a gently used bicycle or camera? How about used computer equipment?  Or perhaps razor blades, DVDs, sunglasses, jewelry or an i-pod?

Well, if you’re in the market for any of these kinds of items, the city of Wheaton will be auctioning them off next month. Many of the items being auctioned off were either city property or items confiscated by the Wheaton Police Department.

“We can’t keep most of this stuff forever and if we can’t return it to its rightful owner, we’ll sell it off,” said Tom Meloni, deputy chief of police.

There are some evidentiary items the police are bound by statute to keep, but the majority must be returned to its owner or sold off if no owner is found.

“We make every effort to find the rightful owner, but often we can’t, so we end up selling it off,” he said.

But before those items can be sold off, the city council must approve disposal. On Monday the Wheaton City Council approved a measure to auction off hundreds of items ranging from a single DVD of the movie “Antwone Fisher” to bicycles and old computer components.

City Manager Don Rose said the items will be auctioned off at an online site called www.propertyroom.com. Proceeds from the sale will be returned to the city’s general fund.

In addition to approving the disposal of city property, a discussion about parking issues near a planned church construction on West Union Avenue quickly expanded to an examination of parking across the city of Wheaton.

Councilman Phil Seuss criticized a plan to allow parking between 6 a.m. and noon on Sundays along Lincoln Road where it borders the church property. Seuss said over time he expects the church, which is expected to house nearly 1,000 worshippers, will be used more often than just Sundays. Seuss said he expects the facility to see significant use over time, which means parking could become a problem, especially for service vehicles like a fire truck. Seuss said Lincoln Road is narrow and suggested prohibiting parking on the north side of the road.

“We need to establish a (parking) standard if a street is a certain width,” Seuss said.

Councilwoman Jeanne Ives agreed the city has inconsistent parking regulations. She said parking along the street near her home on Wheaton Avenue makes it difficult to navigate. She said there’s no way a fire truck or other service vehicle could safely travel down the road.

Although no action was taken on the parking issue, Mayor Michael Gresk sided with council members who want to see uniform parking standards across Wheaton.

Rose said the council will vote on the parking issue at next month’s meeting.