Section 158-40 ESTABLISHING OF TOWING ADVISORY BOARD.

158-40 ESTABLISHMENT OF TOWING ADVISORY BOARD

A. Town Council shall appoint a Towing Advisory Board which shall include representatives of local law enforcement agencies, towing and recovery operators, and the general public. Such members shall serve at the will of Town Council and shall organize themselves as to best carry out the purpose of their appointment.

B. The Towing Advisory Board shall meet at least twice per year.

C. At minimum, the Towing Advisory Board shall:

1. recommend changes to Town Council concerning Town ordinances, contracts, and policies on towing; and

2. maintain and annually update approved lists of towing services that may be dispatched by the police pursuant to this Chapter.

D. Approved towing companies shall be selected upon the following standards:

1. Emergency services must be available twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. Vehicles are to be removed pursuant to Sections 158-39 and 158-40 during normal working hours (8 A.M. – 6 P.M.) Monday through Friday, UNLESS they constitute a traffic hazard or are impeding the flow of traffic, or as may be required by the Police Department. In the latter instances, they are subject to immediate removal.

2. An approved towing company shall be responsible, when removing a wrecked vehicle or vehicles from any accident, to remove any glass or other injurious substance dropped upon the street or highway from such vehicle.

3. An approved towing company shall agree that the cost of towing vehicles will be paid by the owner, operator, insurance company or owner company unless directed by the Police that said vehicle will be impounded for evidence in a judicial proceeding.

4. An approved towing company agrees to own, and provide the following equipment, and maintain in proper condition to handle crane calls for vehicles from points both on and off the roadway:

a. Nothing less than a one (1) ton wrecker for small vehicles, such as automobiles and small trucks.

b. Optional: A wrecker of greater capacity of one (1)ton for larger vehicles such as large trucks and semi-trailers. Such optional service shall be classified heavy duty.

5. Operators of wreckers must be sufficiently experienced to properly operate on calls. Applicants for approval shall provide a complete listing of all equipment he/she will use to handle the necessary requirements.

6. An approved towing company will provide and maintain a suitable protected storage lot for such vehicles as are required to be held according to all applicable State and local regulations. The storage is to meet all the requirements of Front Royal Town Code Ordinance Numbers 158-39 through 158-41. Copies of these ordinances are attached and are hereby made a part of these specifications. Applicants shall provide a complete description of storage facility including area (square feet) and security measures.

7. Secured storage must be provided for impounded vehicles and made available for authorized search procedures.

8. An approved towing company will be required to cooperate with the Police Department in maintaining all necessary records on all vehicles towed, stored, or released.

9. An approved towing company must have the required liability, fire, theft insurance to cover both crane service and storage of vehicles and any damage to stored vehicles.

10. No vehicles impounded by the Police Department will be released from storage without a written authorization by the Police Department. This will not apply to vehicles towed at the request of the owner and which are not impounded.

11. An approved towing company will be responsible for the collection of monies due for all vehicles towed to its premises. The approved towing company will waive the right to collect all monies for any vehicle which is stored on the Town of Front Royal property.

12. An approved towing company will, by legal process, dispose of all vehicles impounded by the Police Department, which remain unclaimed after a period of ninety (90) days. The Police Department will cooperate in, but not be responsible for the legal disposition of all unclaimed vehicles held by the approved towing company, which have not been impounded.

E. Towing companies may be removed from the list by a majority vote of the Towing Advisory Board:

1. If the Board finds that the company is not complying with applicable standards; and

2. After notice to the company and an opportunity by the company to be heard by the Board.

F. Approved Towing Services

1. The Front Royal Department of Police shall maintain a list of approved towing services prepared by the Town’s Towing Advisory Board. At minimum, the list shall have two (2) categories of services – light and heavy duty.

2. In responding to towing requests, the police dispatcher shall rotate through the lists as appropriate. If a towing service is unable to respond or respond in a timely manner, the dispatcher may rotate through that towing service and proceed to the next on the list.

a. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a person is in an accident or otherwise has a disabled vehicle and expresses a preference for a particular towing service, the police officer will request the dispatcher to contact the motorist’s service of preference, unless, in the officer’s sole discretion, quicker service is required.

b. When, in the opinion of the officer in charge, rotation on the list should be ignored because of investigative exigencies or emergency, the police may use the towing service deemed most appropriate under the circumstances.

(Ord. No. 3-2000 Amended Entire Section 1-24-00-Effective Upon Passage)