Butler police department's two bicycles, unused since 2003, may find a new home with the Butler County Community College's police force.

At a city council meeting in June, Mayor Maggie Stock proposed donating the two bicycles to the BC3 police, but the matter was never voted on.

The bikes must be declared to have no value before they can be donated, or inspected and repaired before they can be sold, according to Stock.

The bicycles were last used in 2003, when the city police department was downsized from 25 to 23 officers.

Police Chief Tim Fennell said, "I've sent a letter to the mayor and the solicitor requesting the bicycles be donated to BC3. They aren't doing us any good here."

Patrick Massaro, the director of BC3 security, did not return phone messages regarding the bicycles, but city council members speculated the bikes would be useful on BC3's mostly level, path-oriented campus, allowing officers to travel quickly between areas with greater accessibility than a car and without the fuel cost.

The city bicycle patrol was started in 2000 at the behest of city council and with an interest by police officers to be more mobile in the city, especially during the summer. Two officers were trained for bicycle patrols, but one has retired and the other has been promoted to detective.

In the summer of 2001, the bicycle officers found their presence helped to calm the then-increasing problem of teens and young adults hanging out on Main Street and in city parking lots, which had previously caused problems with littering, vandalism and fights.