[Amended 10-3-2006]
The purpose of this article is to establish a procedure for providing towing services to the City of Rochester. The intent is to have six individual towing services available 24 hours a day on a rotating basis.
[Added 1-7-1997 (Ch. 67 of the 1995 Code)]
Any business or individual desiring to provide towing services to the City of Rochester shall complete an application, which shall be available at the Rochester Police Department. Each interested applicant shall provide the information and/or documentation required to the Rochester Police Department along with a nonrefundable application fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.).
The business or individual shall meet the following minimum qualifications:
A.
Be able to provide on-call service 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
B.
Be able to respond to any call within the City limits within 25 minutes of receiving a call.
C.
Be able to provide comprehensive general liability insurance with limits not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.) per occurrence for property damage, subject to an annual aggregate limit of one million dollars ($1,000,000.), with automobile liability insurance with limits of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.) per person and one million dollars ($1,000,000.) per occurrence for property damage, subject to an aggregate limit of one million dollars ($1,000,000.), with the City of Rochester named as an additional insured.
D.
Be able to provide workers' compensation insurance as required by New Hampshire statutes.
E.
Be able to provide all the necessary equipment to handle the normal problems that arise in removing vehicles from an accident scene with at least one of the vehicles being a slide back carrier.
F.
Be able to provide secure exterior and/or interior storage space within the City of Rochester for any towed vehicles.
G.
Have at least one year of experience in the towing business.
[Amended 10-3-2006]
All applications shall be reviewed by the Chief of Police or his/her designee. All applications determined to meet the minimum qualifications shall be placed in a pool of eligible applicants. Six applicants shall be selected by random lottery conducted by the City Licensing Board to provide towing services to the City.
[Amended 10-3-2006]
The six applicants selected shall each enter into a two-year contract between the City, through its Licensing Board, and the individual towing service. The form and content of said contract shall be determined by the Licensing Board. Each towing service shall pay the City a fee of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.) for the contract rights covering the two-year period; two hundred fifty dollars ($250.) shall be paid upon execution of the contract. Any vacancy occurring during the two-year contract period shall be left unfilled with the remaining towing services equally dividing the rotation schedule.
[Amended 10-3-2006; 5-1-2007]
During the contract term, the six vendors shall be on a rotating schedule and shall be referred all calls for towing which are due to accident and/or arrest which are police related. The City reserves the right to call any towing service designated by the owner/operator of a vehicle involved in an accident who requests the officer on the scene to call such towing service.
A.
The towing service shall also clean the road area and remove all glass and debris from an accident scene.
B.
The towing service shall provide free storage to all vehicles impounded by the police. Towing charges will be the responsibility of the owner of the impounded vehicle.
C.
The towing service shall, upon request of the City, tow any vehicles which have been abandoned as defined in RSA 262:32, which are obstructing access as defined in RSA 31:102 or which are in violation of private property restrictions as outlined in RSA 262:40-a. Towing and storage charges shall be as provided by law.
[Amended 3-5-2019]
D.
Emergency repairs and towing shall be provided without charge by the towing service to all Police Department vehicles. Any parts required shall be charged to the City at dealer cost.
E.
The towing service shall notify the City of Rochester of any change in its legal or storage site address at least 14 days prior to the effective date of such change.
All rates charged by the towing service may not exceed reasonable rates commonly charged in this area.
[Amended 1-5-2021]
All issues relating to contractual matters relating to the towing service and the City shall be determined by the Chief of Police or his/her designee. Failure to maintain the above listed qualification requirements, repeated reports of failure for response to service calls, repeated lack of secure storage, or failing to provide the described services shall cause an immediate review of the contract by the Chief of Police or his/her designee. A negative review shall be forwarded to the Licensing Board for further action. Any dispute or interpretation unable to be resolved between the Chief of Police and the towing service shall be referred to the City Licensing Board which shall make the final determination in any such matter.