Some ideas make so much sense, one can't help but wonder why they weren't put in place already.

Take the more than 140 bicycles in the possession of the Hays Police Department. Lost or abandoned property such as these, provided no owners step forward to reclaim them, end up in storage. Police have been using the former KDOT building at 22nd and Vine for these two-wheelers, pending possible sale at a public auction.

Now the Ellis County government has plans to demolish the building. HPD will not have a facility large enough to accommodate the unwanted bikes.

Rather than simply having an auction or trying to find a new storage facility, Hays Police Chief Don Scheibler and City Manager Toby Dougherty suggested an alternative to city commissioners. Send the bicycles to the Kansas Department of Corrections to repair and refurbish, then give them to underprivileged kids in the community. Apparently, prisoners have been doing the service since 1999.

"Prisoners take the bicycles and build them back up from the ground up," Scheibler said.

To their credit, Hays city commissioners jumped at the opportunity. By a unanimous vote Thursday night, the elected officials decided to change current ordinances to allow the police to take advantage of the program.

When the bikes are returned, the city manager will decide which nonprofit organization will get them.

"It ... gives us an opportunity to give those bicycles ... back to the community to people who will benefit from them," Scheibler said.

While the idea is not brand new, we're encouraged Hays is going to take advantage. There are many deserving youngsters whose families simply can't afford to purchase a brand-new bicycle. We would anticipate many a smile in the near future that will be the ultimate thank you to city commissioners.

Bravo.

Editorial by Patrick Lowry

plowry@dailynews.net