WEST LAFAYETTE — Dozens of electric scooters still roam West Lafayette and Lafayette, days after West Lafayette said it planned to impound those scooters.

WLPD Interim Chief Troy Harris said Sunday that removing the entire fleet of scooters has never been its goal.

"We are removing any scooter that is obstructing pedestrian travel, is a trip hazard, or in violation of potential ADA regulation," he said in a statement Sunday. "Those not fitting that description will be left in place."

On electric scooters:West Lafayette: Bird, you have one day to pick up your electric scooters

From August:How cities and Purdue are preparing for a potential electric scooter invasion

Dozens of the scooters showed up without notice over the weekend. West Lafayette police gave the company Bird until 2 p.m. Saturday to remove the scooters or risk getting them impounded.

What's up with these scooters?

The scooters are dockless, meaning they can be parked anywhere, and typically can go as fast as 15 miles an hour. In West Lafayette, people can use those scooters through a smartphone app for a $1 initial fee per ride and 20 cents per minute.

West Lafayette police have impounded more than 20 electric scooters so far from Bird, according to the company's application.

Harris said the police have had constructive communication with the company and that those scooters will be released this week without penalty. But the scooters that block the sidewalks will still be impounded on a case by case status, he said at Monday's city council meeting.

"I like the concept," he said. "There's a lot of alternative modes of transportation that's out there that will be accepted with open arms but it has to be done the right way."

What does the city want to do?

West Lafayette Director of Development Erik Carlson said Friday that the city wanted Bird to suspend its service until the city passes regulations on the scooters. Bird had agreed, according to Carlson.

Carlson said Friday that if Bird does not comply with the order, West Lafayette City Council may introduce a resolution Monday identical to that Indianapolis adopted in July. That resolution includes requirements for the companies to be licensed and pay a $15,000 fee as well as $1 per day per device on the street.

However, the company continues to operate with dozens of scooters in the city.

Carlson said Monday he was frustrated but wanted to delay having a regulation to make sure the city moves in a unified front with Lafayette and Purdue University.

When asked if the city plans to bring a regulation by next month, Carlson said he hopes that's the case. The city will be working with its attorney and other cities and entities, he said.

Jan Myers, who advocates for the city to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Monday at the council meeting that the scooters frustrate her.

"(I) would like to know when I'm coming down the sidewalk, what am I to do?" she asked.

Nick DeBoer posted on Twitter Monday of what seems to be a coordinated e-mail campaign by Bird to keep its service in West Lafayette, which DeBoer called "a poor look."

"It makes me sour (about the company) in my opinion," he said.

But he added Monday night that he had changed his mind about the campaign after seeing a note on the Bird app encouraging the app's users to contact their councilmembers. He said he now sees the campaign as a proof that there are real constituency for the scooters.

When asked about its future plan for Greater Lafayette in early August, a Bird spokesman said the company "works in partnership with all of the cities (it has) launched in."

That has not seemed like the case for the area.

But the frustration asides, city officials acknowledged Monday that those scooters are likely here to stay even without specific regulations for them, as long as they don't block the sidewalks, impede pedestrians and obey traffic rules such as having lights at night and not riding on the sidewalks.

When asked by the council whether the city plans to allow Bird to keep operating now, West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis said the city's likely to do so.

"If it's done right," he said.

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