[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Ayer 6-15-2020 ATM by Art. 32. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
The Select Board may from time to time grant the license, provided for in § 275-2, and may revoke such license at their discretion. Every licensee shall pay to the Town Treasurer/Tax Collector, for the use of the Town, a sum to be determined by the Select Board for each vehicle so licensed. All licenses granted hereunder shall expire at the expiration of one year from the granting thereof unless sooner revoked and shall be recorded by the Town Clerk in a book to be kept for that purpose.
B. 
In an effort to minimize the impact of excessive or unnecessary traffic congestion in the Town of Ayer, only 10 licenses (including renewals) will be permitted to be in use at any given time, provided that anyone already holding a valid license on the date this regulation is adopted shall not be affected by the maximum license issued portion of this provision so long as any such licensees have continuously held a valid hackney carriage license for five or more years. Licenses (including renewals) shall be issued on the first-come-first served basis. Expiration dates of current licenses shall be made available to anyone upon request in the Select Board office.
A. 
Every vehicle (except railroad and street railroad cars, trackless trolleys or trolley motors) within the meaning of MGL c. 163, § 2 used or to be used for the conveyance of persons for hire from place to place within the Town of Ayer, commencing in the Town of Ayer and having its destination outside the Town of Ayer, or anyone who maintains a regular place of business in the Town of Ayer for a hackney carriage or taxi shall be deemed a "hackney carriage" and will require a license from the Select Board. The maintenance of a place of business is not necessarily limited to a building or office but merely if the hackney carriage generally operates in the Town of Ayer. Also, if an individual maintains a place of business or a hackney carriage operation outside of the Town of Ayer and has its destination in the Town of Ayer, a hackney carriage license shall be required from the Select Board.
B. 
Applications for the hackney carriage license shall be made in writing on forms approved by the Select Board. These forms shall include a criminal record disclosure statement.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 185, Art. 2, Criminal History Background Checks.
C. 
Applicants shall submit letters of recommendation from individuals, at least three, of the following categories:
(1) 
Vendor with whom the applicant conducted business within the past two years.
(2) 
Financial institutions with whom the applicant has conducted business within the past two years.
(3) 
Employer for whom the applicant worked within the past two years.
(4) 
Another creditor with whom the applicant conducted business within the past two years.
D. 
A written statement containing the following shall be submitted:
(1) 
Permanent location of business.
(2) 
Proposed hours of operation.
(3) 
A copy of the registration for each vehicle to be used.
(4) 
The name of each driver to be employed.
(5) 
A copy of business certificates filed with the Town Clerk.
(6) 
In addition, all corporate applicants shall submit a current certificate of good standing from the Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue.
E. 
There shall be a field inspection by the Police Department of each vehicle to be used. This will include proper registration, safety review, and basic serviceability. All vehicles will be required to display company name and host community in letters not less than four inches high by 1/2 inch wide (lettering on cab doors is only required if the cab is a metered cab).
F. 
A statement shall be submitted by the Ayer Police Department that a background check has been completed on each driver.[2] The Ayer Police Department will issue a recommendation to allow or disallow each driver to operate a taxi.
[2]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 185, Art. 2, Criminal History Background Checks.
G. 
The applicant shall submit a certificate of insurance in compliance with the provisions of the statutes of the commonwealth with references to compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance. The minimum coverage will be $100,000/$300,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for property injury. The Select Board as the issuing authority may review annually the minimum insurance coverage for bodily injury and property damage and may increase the same without seeking an amendment to this bylaw. In the Select Board's review, it should take into consideration the general economic conditions in the area and the cost of insurance versus the benefit provided to the public generally with the maintenance of a greater level of insurance. Also, if a greater form of insurance is required by any federal law or statute of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or any rule promulgated thereunder, then that shall become the minimum insurance required pursuant to this bylaw.
H. 
Receipt of the above-mentioned material in Subsections B through G shall constitute a completed application.
I. 
The application and related documents shall be placed on the agenda for review by the Select Board.
J. 
No license as a hackney carriage shall be granted for any vehicle seating more than eight passengers, including the driver, nor unless such vehicle shall be properly equipped for adequate lighting thereof both without and within same.
K. 
Every application for a license shall state the owner's name and address, the maker's name and number of the vehicle, the type of vehicle, the vehicle's rated horsepower, the number of passengers which the vehicle is designed to seat, the registration number issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and such other information as the Select Board may require or stipulate
L. 
All such licenses shall be subject to such terms and conditions prescribed by the Select Board.
Following approval of the license but prior to issuance of the license, the Select Board shall collect a fee per licensed vehicle.
A. 
The Select Board may revoke, cancel or suspend a license issued under this bylaw in the event the licensee engages in any manner inconsistent with a business for the transporting of passengers by motor vehicles. Such inappropriate behavior shall include but not be limited to:
(1) 
Conviction of crimes.
(2) 
Two or more moving vehicle violations for which the operator is found or pleads responsible within any calendar year.
(3) 
Arrests for operating a motor vehicle while either under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.
(4) 
Failure to keep their vehicle(s) properly registered, inspected or insured.
(5) 
Complaints involving the suitability or fitness of the individual licensee regarding the operation of the hackney business.
B. 
All hearings on suspension or revocation of any hackney carriage license shall be conducted before the Select Board or an impartial hearing officer designated by the Board. The licensee shall have the right to present evidence and call and cross-examine witnesses. The Board or hearing officer may consider all relevant evidence and shall not be bound by the formal rules of evidence or procedure.
A. 
The Select Board shall base its decision on the request for a hackney carriage license on the following:
(1) 
Completed application form.
(2) 
Background check by Police Department.
(3) 
Degree to which granting of a license is deemed to be in the public interest.
(4) 
Field inspections of vehicles by Police Department.
(5) 
Hackney carriage to have at least four doors.
B. 
The Select Board shall base its decision on a renewal request for a hackney carriage license on the following:
(1) 
Record of prior year.
(2) 
Report by the Town Manager or his/her designee of any complaints.
(3) 
Field inspection of vehicle(s) by the Police Department.
(4) 
Background check by the Police Department.
(5) 
Whether renewal is in the public interest.
The license shall expire one year from the date in which such license was granted, unless the license is granted for a shorter time. All hackney carriage licenses will be granted on April 1 and expire on March 31 of the following year.
A. 
Applications for license renewals should be filed with the Select Board's office not less than 30 days from the date the license is due to expire.
B. 
Licensees pay the license fee following approval of the renewal by the Select Board.
C. 
The Select Board's secretary shall keep a copy of the license on file in the Select Board's office.
D. 
The Select Board's secretary shall notify the licensee that the license can be paid for and picked up.
A. 
Hackney carriage fares must be conspicuously posted at all times in each vehicle.
B. 
No owner shall employ or retain as a hackney carriage driver or operator any person who does not possess a currently valid Massachusetts operator's license.
C. 
When any holder of a hackney carriage license ceases to do business under any such name that the license is held in or commences to do business under any other name, such holder shall notify the Select Board in writing within 10 days thereafter.
D. 
No owner shall knowingly permit a driver to operate a hackney carriage in violation of any of these regulations.
Every violation of any of the provisions of the foregoing bylaw, unless otherwise provided by law or these bylaws, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300 for each violation or breach thereof.