[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Somerville 8-16-82 as Ord. No. 933. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Towing Ordinance of the
Borough of Somerville".
A.Â
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present
tense include the future, words in plural number include the singular
number, and words in the singular number include the plural number.
The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
B.Â
BOROUGH
CHIEF OF POLICE
PERSON
TOWING LIST
WRECKER
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words
and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein:
The Borough of Somerville.
The Chief of the Police Department of the Borough of Somerville
or anyone designated by him.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
A list maintained by the Police Department containing the
names of those wreckers licensed by the Borough to respond to requests
for the towing of vehicles made by the Police Department.
A person engaged in the business of, or offering the services
of, a vehicle wrecker or towing service, whereby motor vehicles are
or may be towed or otherwise removed from one place to another by
the use of a motor vehicle adapted to and designed for that purpose.
In order to protect persons who operate motor vehicles inside
the Borough of Somerville, it is desirable and necessary to adopt
this chapter to ensure proper licensing, storage, availability and
other controls over persons and firms licensed to provide wrecker
service.
Any person desiring to perform towing work at police request
shall submit an application for a wrecker service license, in duplicate,
to the License Officer. Application forms shall be obtained from the
License Office. These forms shall include the name of the owner; home
and business address, home phone and name under which the person does
or will trade; the location, size and security features of the storage
lot on which towed vehicles will be stored; the location to which
the public must come to claim stored vehicles; a statement of willingness
to provide wrecker service on a continuous twenty-four-hour-a-day
basis each day of the year; a list of the towing equipment, its size
and capacity; a complete listing of the insurance policies, carriers
and agents the owner would place into effect upon license approval;
a statement that the wrecker owner will indemnify and hold harmless
the Borough in the event that any claim or recovery is made against
the Borough arising out of the towing service or storage of vehicles,
along with a description of the place he would use to adequately protect
the property left in towed or stored vehicles; and a description of
communications to be used on each wrecker and a description of the
type of communication system utilized at the office where calls are
received.
[Amended 6-6-83 by Ord. No. 945; 2-25-99 by Ord. No. 2073]
All applicants for a license shall obtain an application for
a wrecker service license from the License Office, which upon receipt
of same shall forward said application to the Chief of Police for
investigation of the truth and accuracy of the information contained
therein. Upon completion of his investigation, the Chief shall forward
a copy of said application to the Borough Council along with a recommendation
for approval or disapproval of the license and the reasons, if any,
for this approval. Upon receiving the application for a wrecker service
license, the Borough Council shall determine whether or not the applicant
has complied with the necessary standards and criteria. If the applicant
is found to be qualified, then, upon the payment of an annual license
fee of eighty-five dollars ($85), a license shall be issued to the
applicant and the applicant's name placed at the end of the towing
list. All licenses shall expire on June 30 of each year.
A.Â
No wrecker license shall be issued until the applicant has deposited
with the Chief of Police a garage liability policy covering the operation
of the owner's business, equipment or other vehicles for any bodily
injury or property damage. This policy shall be in the minimum amount
of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) for any one (1) person
injured or killed and a minimum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000)
for more than one (1) person killed or injured in any accident and
an additional fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for property damage.
B.Â
Each policy must contain an endorsement by the carrier providing
ninety (90) days' notice to both the Borough and the insured in the
event of any change in coverage under the policy.
The owner shall provide or make available, when necessary, a
wrecker vehicle of sufficient size and weight to remove and tow tractor-trailer
rigs. All wreckers shall be equipped with warning lights required
under state law. The owner shall provide continuous twenty-four-a-day
service each day of the year and shall provide an attendant or answering
service for the purpose of receiving calls for service. The owner
shall be available to release stored vehicles during the hours of
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day except Sundays and holidays. The owner
shall assume all liability and shall indemnify and save the Borough
harmless from such liability for damages sustained by vehicles while
being towed or stored and for all personal injuries occurring to any
of the firm's employees or other persons and shall maintain the required
insurance policies. The wrecker/owner shall not release any vehicle
directly impounded by the Borough without authorization by the Police
Department.
All costs incident to towing and storage shall be paid by the
owner or person in charge or possession of the towed and stored vehicle
to the owner of the wrecker company and a receipt for payment shall
be issued to said person. The Borough shall assume no liability or
responsibility for any vehicle removed from any place without the
authority of the Chief of Police. The wrecker owner shall maintain
approved records and claim check system to assure release of vehicles
to the rightful owner or authorized person. Such records shall be
open to the Police Department for investigation of specific complaints
and for compiling surveys under this chapter. The owner of any wrecker
service shall permit any person appointed by the Chief of Police to
inspect his wreckers, vault, security form or storage area at such
times as the Chief of Police shall deem appropriate.
The Chief of Police shall ensure that wreckers are called to
the scene of an accident or to impound vehicles on a rotation basis,
distributing calls on an equitable basis from the towing list. The
Chief of Police shall not call or cause to be called any wrecker not
licensed with the Borough unless all such wreckers are unavailable.
It is specifically permitted for the Chief of Police to call a wrecker
out of sequence where proximity to the wreck and estimated response
time make it more practical to do so.
The Mayor may terminate any license when he finds that:
A.Â
The license was secured by fraud or by the concealment of a material
fact by the wrecker owner and such fact, if known, would have caused
the refusal to issue a license.
B.Â
The wrecker owner has violated any of the requirements of this chapter
or regulations established by the Chief of Police under this chapter.
[Amended 7-2-07 by Ord. No. 2232; 3-3-14 by Ord. No. 2432]
The Borough Council shall establish a table of maximum fees
that may be charged by wrecker owners licensed under the provisions
of this chapter for towing and storage. (The table may be found in
the Borough offices.)
A.Â
Amendments.
(1)Â
Pursuant to Ordinance No. 2588 and 2686:
[Amended 4-16-2018 by Ord. No. 2549; 7-1-2019 by Ord. No. 2575; 11-4-2019 by Ord. No. 2588; 11-7-2022 by Ord. No. 2686]
(a)Â
The roster rules and regulations of Ordinance 933 "Regulating
the Towing of Motor Vehicles and Establishing penalties for Violation
thereof" shall be amended to read (8):
[1]Â
The fee for storage of vehicles shall be $65 for inside storage,
and $45 for outside storage as a daily rate.
[2]Â
Trucks (dual wheels)/Single axle $110 daily storage rate,
[3]Â
Tractor/Dump Truck/Tractor and Trailer Combo $145 daily storage rate.
[4]Â
Buses $170 daily storage rate.
[5]Â
The towing fee limit on normal automobile tow shall be $145 for all
tows. Medium and heavy trucks (10,000 lbs. – 16,000 lbs.) shall
be $185.
[6]Â
All tows must be to the vendor’s storage yard, any request
to further than the mileage to the storage yard may be charged at
a rate up to $6 per mile.
(b)Â
The Borough may at his sole discretion arrange for storage of
the vehicles if storage spaces are not available and such storage
fees above shall apply on daily rate. Day one of storage shall be
the date in which the vehicle arrives at the storage facility and
day two shall be the time in which the facility opens on the following
day after the vehicle arrives at the storage facility.
The Chief of Police shall establish and cause the enforcement
of reasonable rules and regulations for wreckers as from time to time
he deems appropriate for the safety, well-being and protection of
citizens within his jurisdiction and their property.
No wrecker may respond to the scene of an accident or emergency
for the purposes of towing vehicles unless specifically called there
by the police or person involved in the accident or emergency. This
section is intended to prohibit wrecker owners from soliciting business
at the scenes of accidents and emergencies and shall not be construed
to prohibit any wrecker from contracting with any person, firm or
corporation, provided that the wrecker owner, his agents and employees
do not solicit towing contracts at the scenes of accidents or emergencies.
[Amended 2-19-85 by Ord. No. 982]
Every person found guilty of violating any of the provisions
of this chapter may, in addition to being removed from the towing
list, be liable to a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000)
or ninety (90) days in jail, or both.
