[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of New York Mills 2-12-2002 by L.L. No. 1-2002;[1] amended in its entirety 11-13-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013. Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 194.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also superseded
L.L. No. 3-2001, adopted 5-8-2001, regarding towing.
A.
Authority to impound vehicles. When any vehicle is parked or abandoned
on any highway in this Village during a snowstorm, flood, fire, or
other public emergency which affects that portion of the public highway
upon which said vehicle is parked or abandoned, or when any vehicle
is found unattended on any highway in this Village where said vehicle
constitutes an obstruction to traffic, or when any vehicle is parked
or abandoned on any highway in this Village where stopping, standing,
or parking is prohibited, or any situation caused by the vehicle that
may be deemed hazardous or any emergency by the Village police, said
vehicle may be removed by or under the direction of any police officer
of this Village to any place or business designated pursuant to the
rules and regulations of this chapter.
B.
Storage and charges. After removal of any vehicle as provided in
this chapter, the vehicle will be stored pursuant to the rules and
regulations of this chapter by a designated and duly licensed business
or in a suitable location designated by the Chief of Police. Towing
and storage charges will be at the expense of the owner. Such person
in charge of said vehicle may redeem same upon payment to the tow
service of the amount of all expenses actually and necessarily incurred.
In effecting such tow and storage, the standard tow charge shall not
exceed $100. If a flatbed tow is required, the tow charge shall not
exceed $100. Storage charges shall not exceed $15 per day, and the
first 12 hours of storage shall be at no charge. There shall be an
inside storage fee of $25 per day if the police authorize it or the
owner requests it.
[Amended 9-12-2017 by L.L. No. 7-2017[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law provided that it take effect
1-1-2018.
C.
Notice of removal. If the owner of the vehicle being towed is not
present at the time of said tow, the Police Department shall have
the duty to ascertain, to the extent possible, the owner of the vehicle
or a person having charge of same, and to notify them of the removal
and disposition of the vehicle and the fee which will be required
to redeem same.
The Village Board is hereby authorized to establish a list of
persons or businesses to be used on a rotating basis by the Village
of New York Mills Police Department whenever towing and/or wrecking
services are called upon by the Department.
A.
All towing services shall provide and maintain facilities for secure
storage of towed vehicles.
B.
Towing service shall be available for assignment on a twenty-four-hour-per-day/seven-day-per-week
basis.
C.
The towing service must be able to arrive at the location in which
its service is needed within 20 minutes from the time at which it
was first called.
D.
The towing service operator shall own, maintain and equip its towing
vehicle(s) in accordance with the laws of the State of New York and
such additional requirements as may be prescribed by the Village Board.
No towing service shall lease or sublease its towing vehicle for purposes
of this chapter.
E.
Any person removing a vehicle from a highway shall retrieve any glass
or other injurious substance dropped upon the highway from such vehicle
at no cost to the customer.
F.
All towing service operators must have a certificate of insurance
coverage that will consist of a minimum of $100,000 for bodily injury
for each person, $300,000 for bodily injury per occurrence, and $50,000
for property damage for each occurrence.
G.
All towing service operators will keep a log book in their office
listing the date and time the vehicle was picked up, the location
from where the vehicle was towed, the make, model, vehicle color,
and the license plate number. This log book will be subject to inspection
by any police officer or the Police Commissioner.
H.
The tow operator shall also provide extra services upon request,
to include winch outs, lock out service, and removal of off-road vehicles
such as ATVs, snowmobiles, or motorcycles.
I.
Towing services will notify the New York Mills police, in writing,
of any towed vehicle left unclaimed for more than 48 hours after notification
by police of the registered owner of said vehicle.
J.
Towing services shall agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Village
of New York Mills from any claim or liabilities which occur as a result
of performing towing or wrecker services at the request of the Village
of New York Mills.
K.
Upon request for a rotation tow service, the service next on rotation
must be the service to respond. Other tow services, whether on the
rotation list or not, cannot respond in the place of the next on rotation
service. In the event the tow service on the rotation cannot respond
to the call, then the one next on the list shall be called to respond,
and so forth, until a tow service does respond to the call.
L.
All towing services will maintain proper signage for their business
location, trucks and storage facility; with an office area for persons
to pick up their vehicle.
It shall be unlawful for any person operating a tow truck wrecker
within the corporate limits of the Village of New York Mills or any
agent working on behalf of such operator to be within 1,000 feet of
any accident or to cause any wrecker to approach nearer than 1,000
feet to the scene of any accident of any automobile or other vehicle
within the corporate limits of said Village until the Police Department
has had an opportunity to investigate said accident and has directed
and authorized such person(s) and/or wrecker to approach within said
prohibited distance.
A.
Applications can be obtained from the New York Mills Village Clerk.
After completion, the application is to be submitted to the Village
Clerk, containing all of the information required. The applications
are valid for one calendar year. There shall be no more than five
towing services participating on the towing rotation list at any one
time, with application preference given to towing services located
within the corporate limits of the Village. This is to ensure that
those Village tow services interested will be part of the five services
on the rotating list.
B.
At the beginning of November each year, all tow services must reapply
to ensure that all interested tow services have the opportunity to
participate in the rotation.
D.
In the event more than five towing services apply to be on the rotation,
preference shall be given to towing services located within the limits
of the Village and any remaining slots on the rotation list shall
be selected on a lottery basis.
The Village Board is hereby given authority to promulgate such
other rules or regulations as it deems necessary, consistent with
the intent of this chapter.
A.
Any person, firm, or corporation engaged in wrecker or tow services violating § 196-1B or § 196-4 of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine not exceeding $250 for the first offense and/or imprisonment for up to 15 days. The limit for the fine shall increase by $250 for each conviction of any defendant within five years of the date of the subject offense.
B.
It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to notify the Village Board of any of the tow services on the rotation list that are in violation of any part of § 196-3 of this chapter. After notice and opportunity to be heard by the Village Board, it may suspend or revoke the towing service from the rotation list. The Village Board will exercise a "zero tolerance" policy to all points of this policy.
