[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998]
It shall be unlawful for any person or any owner to leave, suffer
or permit to be left, any vehicle upon any public street, highway
or public property of the Borough, in excess of the time, or any vehicle
found wrecked, abandoned, illegally parked or stored, or without a
current license plate or current inspection sticker, or both, or in
violation of the manner provided in any ordinance of the Borough or
by the Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any provisions
thereof where parking is prohibited under the authority of any ordinance
of the Borough or the Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Any vehicle so left is hereby declared to be a nuisance and such nuisance
may be summarily abated by removing the vehicle by or under the direction
of a police officer of the Borough by means of towing or otherwise
to the motor vehicle pound herein established.
[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998; as amended by Ord. 712-02, 5/13/2002,
§ 1; and by Ord. 731-05, 6/13/2005, § 3]
There is hereby created a motor pound to which a motor vehicle
or other vehicles parked in violation of parking regulations of the
Borough or of the Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
may be removed and impounded by any police officer of the Borough.
The Borough Manager shall maintain a list of the businesses designated
as official vehicle pound designation locations, which may be amended
from time to time by Borough Council.
[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998; as amended by Ord. 731-05, 6/13/2005,
§ 4]
1.
The operator of such pound herein designated, prior to qualifying
as an official pound, shall furnish to the Borough a certificate of
public liability insurance indemnifying the Borough in an amount of
not less than $500,000 for each person injured, not less than $50,000
for property damage and not less than $1,000,000 for each accident
from liability arising from negligence of any employee of the Borough
or any employee of the herein designated pound while in the act of
removal of vehicle from place of parking to the pound.
2.
The operator of such pound hereinabove designated shall also post
with the Borough Manager a bond in an amount as required by law. Said
bond shall be executed by such owner or operator as principal, and
by a surety company authorized to do business in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, as surety, approved as to form by the Borough Solicitor
and conditioned that the principal will faithfully perform duties
as salvor of impounded vehicles and that he will indemnify the owners
thereof against any loss of or injury to the same or any article attached
to or contained therein while in the custody of the poundkeeper.
[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998]
The impounding of a vehicle shall not prevent or preclude the
institution and prosecution of criminal proceedings charging the violator
thereof with any violation of the law.
[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998]
1.
Within 24 hours from the time of removal of such vehicle, notice
of the fact that such vehicle has been impounded shall be sent by
the Chief of Police or his nominee by certified mail, return receipt
requested, to the last known address of the owner or record and all
lien holders of record informing them of the impounding of said vehicle.
2.
Contents of Notice. The notice shall:
A.
Describe the vehicle, the make, model, title number, vehicle identification
number and registration plate number, if known.
B.
State the location where the vehicle is being held.
C.
Inform the owner and any lien holders of record of their right to
reclaim the vehicle within 30 days after the date of the notice where
the vehicle is being held, upon payment of all towing and storage
charges, and any other expenses incurred by the Borough.
D.
State that the failure of the owner or lien holder to reclaim the
vehicle is deemed consent by the owner to the destruction, sale or
other disposition of the abandoned vehicle and of all lien holders
to dissolution of their liens.
3.
Notice by Publication. If the identity of the last registered owner and of all lien holders cannot be determined with reasonable certainty, the contents of the notice set forth in Subsection 2 above shall be published one time in one newspaper of general circulation in the area where the vehicle was abandoned. The notice may contain multiple listings of abandoned vehicles. The notice shall have the same effect as notice sent by certified mail.
[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998]
1.
If an abandoned vehicle is valueless except for junk, the Police
Chief or his nominee shall apply for the issuance of a certificate
of junk as provided in the Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998]
1.
No impounded vehicle shall be discharged or removed from said pound
except upon payment by the owner thereof, or by his duly authorized
representative, to the Chief of Police or other police officer on
duty, the towing and storage charges incurred thereon. The towing
charge is hereby fixed in that customarily made by the pound operator
at the time services are rendered and the storage charge is hereby
fixed as that storage charge in effect by the pound operator for the
storage of such motor vehicles at the time the vehicle is stored.
When the owner of a vehicle impounded, or his representative, presents
himself to the Chief of Police or other police officer on duty, to
claim his vehicle, it shall be the duty of such officer to inform
such owner, or his representative, of the nature of the circumstances
of the violation on account of which such vehicle has been impounded.
Before the said owner, or his agent, shall be permitted to remove
the vehicle from such pound he shall:
A.
Furnish satisfactory evidence to the Chief of Police or other police
officer on duty and the operator of the pound in which his vehicle
is impounded, of his identity and ownership or agency.
B.
Pay to the police officer the total charges for towing and storage
hereinabove set forth and all other expenses incurred by the Borough.
C.
Present the receipt of the police officer to the salvor of said pound.
D.
Sign a written receipt for said vehicle.
2.
Payment of the towing and storage charges, unless such payment shall
be made under protest, shall be final and conclusive and shall constitute
a waiver of any right to recover the money so paid; provided, however,
that if the owner fails to appear within 15 days from the date of
the offense, he shall be conclusively deemed to have waived his right
to make said payment under protest and the payment of the said towing
and storage charges shall be final and conclusive. In the event that
the towing and impounding charges are paid under protest, except as
hereinbefore provided, the offender shall be entitled to a hearing
before a district justice or court of record having jurisdiction,
in which case defendant shall be proceeded against and receive such
notice as is provided by the Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
in other cases of summary offenses, and shall have the same rights
as to appeal and waiver of hearing. In such case, the police officer
on duty, upon payment of the proper charges, shall give a receipt
for the same marked "paid under protest." It shall thereupon be the
duty of the officer having knowledge of the facts to forthwith cause
an information to be filed charging the owner or driver of such vehicle
with a specific violation on account of which the vehicle was impounded.
In case such person is subsequently found by the District Justice
or court of record not guilty of having committed the violation on
account of which the vehicle of such person was impounded then it
shall be the duty of the District Justice to certify the facts forthwith
to the Treasurer of the Borough, and the Borough Treasurer shall,
within five days, refund to the defendant the amount of said towing
and storage charges paid by him or in his behalf.
[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998]
1.
If, after the expiration of 30 days after notice to the owner of
the vehicle that the vehicle has been impounded, such vehicle is not
redeemed or released to the owner or his agent, as herein provided,
the Chief of Police shall proceed to sell the same at public auction
after first giving at least 20 days notice of such sale by publication
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Borough of the time and
place of such sale. Such notice shall describe the vehicle to be sold
with reasonable certainty by manufacturer's trade name or make, motor
number, body number and State registration or license number and shall
state to whom, if anyone, the Chief of Police believes the same belongs
and if the name of the owner be unknown, the fact shall be stated.
In case the owner be known to the Chief of Police, he shall notify
such owner of such sale by mail or otherwise at his last known address
at least 20 days prior to the sale.
2.
If he sells such vehicle at such sale he shall pay the proceeds thereof
into the Borough Treasury. At any time within one year from and after
such sale the former owner of the vehicle sold, upon application to
the Borough Treasurer and upon presentation of satisfactory proof
that he was the owner of the vehicle sold, shall be paid the proceeds
of such sale, less the necessary expenses thereof and less the towing,
impounding and storage charges and any other Township charges provided
for herein. If the former owner shall not have applied to the Borough
Treasurer within the said one-year period, as herein provided, the
proceeds of the sale of such vehicle shall be credited to the Borough
general fund.
[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998]
1.
All moneys paid to the Police Department for the release of impounded
vehicles and the proceeds of the sale of impounded vehicles shall
be paid into the Borough Treasury.
2.
The Police Department shall keep a record of all vehicles impounded
by manufacturer's trade name or make, the motor number and State registration
or license number, the names of owners of such vehicles and of all
persons claiming the same, and such other descriptive matter, as may
identify said vehicles, the nature and circumstances of the impounding
thereof and the violation on account of which such vehicles were impounded
and the final disposition of each case.
[Ord. 680, 12/28/1998]
The owner or operator of any garage authorized to receive and
keep impounded vehicles shall on or before day 10 of each month file
his claim with the Borough Council for towing and impounding charges,
not exceeding those herein fixed, accruing to him upon vehicles redeemed
or sold, as herein provided, during the preceding month in accordance
with the provisions of this Part, which claim shall be sworn to by
him under oath as being accurate and justly due and shall be personally
approved in writing on the face thereof by the Chief of Police in
charge.
