oh how embarrassing - i had this meeting on my calendar for 1:30, but this towing commission meeting clearly started at 1!
we’re discussing the vagueness of this ordinance - it appears that under the current ordinance, you can’t have a vehicle towed from your own property unless you have a posted sign that unauthorized vehicles will be towed... even from your own driveway. 
or at least that’s what they are saying. my reading of the code doesn’t lead me to the same conclusion, although a quick skim on my phone doesn’t seem to say anything at all about towing from personal residential property
i’m sure the city attorney’s office is probably pretty busy given the number of lawsuits they’re currently dealing with, but when these meetings get into detailed discussion of sections of city code, it really would help if they brought in someone to explain what the law says.
the towing company rep says a lot of the collier’s signs are not technically compliant with the requirements for such signs
there are towing companies currently operating in the city that don’t meet the requirements to be on the rotation for towing requests made the city. the law enforcement rep says if they don’t meet those requirements, they shouldn’t be operating in the city at all.
the towing rep says he personally knows of three drivers who don’t have current driver’s authorization documents and there’s one wrecker that doesn’t even have virginia plates.
the towing rep says most wrecker companies are charging storage based on calendar date, not 24 hour periods (as the ordinance requires)
civilian rep on the board rob woodside says “i don’t have a lot of sympathy for people who get towed.”
the other civilian rep, buzz becker, asks if there is any way an audit could be performed to see how frequently these inappropriate storage charges are being applied. apparently most companies only have paper records which would be difficult to review.
the code does allow for towing companies to be audited by the towing coordinator.
an update about BARNACLE!
siebert gave the towing commission the names of three property owners who might be interested in private booting & buzz has reached out to them to gauge interest. he doesn’t see that there is actually big demand for this.
the economics of it just don’t work out - barnacle takes a $53 cut from every use & property owners would have to have an employee monitoring the lot & affixing the devices.
the towing rep says of this booting conversation, “i’d like to give it the big boot” & it seems like this immobilization tool company is just trying to start a business here.
he also says an immobilized vehicle may ultimately end up towed anyway and he could end up liable for damage caused by applying or removing the immobilization device.
the police officer says he won’t say publicly (he means in front of me) what he thinks about all this.
i kinda like this towing guy’s whole vibe. he said if he has to remove a boot, it’s going in the river.
ok, they are officially scrapping the whole idea of engaging with a private vehicle immobilization device company. the parking advisory panel will be so disappointed.
“the city has way too many boards and commissions,” says rob woodside (who, to my knowledge, serves on three of them)
hell yeah there is some official talk of possibly combining the parking and towing commissions. i firmly believe this is the only rational choice.
the two law enforcement reps both oppose the idea of combining the boards.
the towing rep also opposes it. i can’t figure out why. parked cars get towed. where you can park has a lot to do with why you get towed. the two things seem very related.
the officer says they need clarification from the city manager’s office on whether the ordinance allows you to have someone towed from your front yard. they are interpreting the ordinance to say this can’t be done.
the towing rep says his office closes at 5 but the law doesn’t allow them to charge an after hours fee to release a vehicle until 7pm - he says this should change.
the towing rep asks if they plan to start looking into enforcing some of these elements of the ordinance on companies who aren’t compliant. buzz says they should talk about what they’d look for in an audit.
the officer seems to be cautioning the towing rep, wayne hayslett of FBR towing, that other towing operators may see his involvement in this audit process as an attempt to exert pressure on his competitors.
meeting adjourned! the towing commission meets next on december 19th.
