WEST LAFAYETTE — Electric scooters are now in Greater Lafayette.

But perhaps not for long.

West Lafayette police will give electric scooter company Bird until 2 p.m. Saturday to pick up the company's scooters, deputy WLPD chief Troy Harris said. Otherwise, the scooters will be impounded, Harris said. Those riding the scooters won't be penalized, he said.

Bird agreed to comply with the order in a conference call with city officials Friday, West Lafayette's development director Erik Carlson said.

Carlson said the city will diligently work with Bird to find a reasonable regulation – with "actual stakeholder input" – for those scooters.

He said 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.

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Throughout Friday, Bird dropped off about two dozen electric scooters, mostly in West Lafayette on the outskirts of Purdue University, according to its smartphone application.

Some scooters have shown up in downtown Lafayette as well.

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.

When asked about its future plan for Greater Lafayette in early August, a Bird spokesman said it does not typically comment on future launches, and said the company "works in partnership with all of the cities (it has) launched in."

But Harris said that didn't seem to be the case.

"The scooters popped up overnight with no communication," he said.

"They never bothered talking to us," Carlson said.

Police fielded many complaints Friday of the scooters blocking sidewalks. Harris said he tried to contact Bird multiple times to no avail. Bird officials did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Harris said he told Bird that he believes the scooters violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"There has to be communication," he said.

Purdue spokesman Tim Doty said in a statement that Purdue has not been in talks with Bird. Purdue regulates all electric scooter users to obey all applicable Indiana bicycle laws such as observing traffic control signals, he said.

"We are aware of the recent deployment of scooters in West Lafayette and Lafayette by Bird this morning. Purdue is not in talks with Bird to bring scooters to our West Lafayette campus. You should know that Purdue does have regulations regarding the use of scooters," he said in an e-mail.

Lafayette Police could not be reached for comment as of Friday afternoon. But Lafayette's bike pedestrian coordinator Margy Deverall said the city hasn't planned on taking any action.

"We will see how they are used by the public, compare notes with West Lafayette and Purdue, and contact the company managing them, before deciding if any action is needed," Deverall said in an e-mail.

The officials have said in early August that if the scooters show up and cause trouble before regulations set in, they will take action, from impounding those scooters to fining the companies.

Carlson said city officials discussed having a resolution for the West Lafayette City Council meeting Monday but decided not to because it's not quite ready yet.

Harris said one of the ideas may be to have a designated area where people can drop off their scooters, as done in some major cities.

Dennis Carson, Lafayette's development director, said in August Lafayette's discussion on its policy may become public sometime this month or in October.

"It's something we need to address," Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski said in August. "We don't want scooters dumped in our city."

Carlson said West Lafayette, Lafayette and Purdue will have a unified front.

"Whatever the regulation we have would be the same across the board," he said.

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