In order to protect persons who operate motor vehicles within
the Town limits; to ensure that the streets, public ways and public
property of the Town remain open and free of hazard to the public;
and to further effectuate the enforcement of the Town's traffic, parking,
snow removal and other regulatory ordinances, it is determined necessary
to register and regulate businesses engaged in vehicle wrecker and
towing services. The following regulations are promulgated by the
Town of Windham for that purpose.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ADEQUATE EQUIPMENT
Equipment capable of accomplishing the following:
A.
Hoist and remove, by straight tow, a disabled vehicle.
B.
Hoist and remove a vehicle which cannot be removed on its own
wheels with dolly wheels.
C.
Hoist and remove a vehicle which is off the side of a roadway
and down an incline or in a similar situation that prohibits a straight
tow.
BUSINESS
A business entity that files a separate and distinct federal
income tax return.
[Amended 11-24-1992]
DAYTIME
6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
[Amended 6-9-2020]
NIGHTTIME
6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
[Amended 6-9-2020]
NONPREFERENCE REQUEST
When a vehicle operator does not designate a specific towing
business or auto club or similar entity that provides roadside service,
the request shall be considered a nonpreference request by the Town,
thereby subject to the Town's towing rotation list.
[Added 4-10-1995]
RECOVERY/EXTRACTION
This is a fee which may be collected when the vehicle to
be towed is located in an extraordinary situation requiring unusually
difficult and skilled efforts and/or special equipment during the
recovery of said vehicle. Examples are: a vehicle in a body of water;
a vehicle no longer resting on its wheels; a vehicle well off the
road into a wooded area or a field with an unstable surface; or a
vehicle well off the road over a steep embankment. (The fact that
all four tires of the vehicle are not on the pavement does not constitute
a recovery/extraction under this definition.)
[Amended 6-9-2020]
STORAGE FEE
A fee which may be collected by the towing business for storage
of a towed vehicle at the towing business' storage location listed
on the wrecker rotation application filed by the towing business.
There shall be no fee charged for the first 24 hours after the towing
business takes possession of a vehicle. The daily fees listed in the
fee schedule may be applied in twenty-four-hour intervals after the
first 24 hours of possession has expired.
[Amended 6-9-2020]
TOWING BUSINESS
A business engaged in or offering the services of a vehicle
wrecker or towing service whereby motor vehicles are towed or otherwise
removed from one location to another by use of a vehicle specifically
designed and equipped for that purpose.
[Added 4-10-1995]
TOWING ROTATION LIST
A list maintained by the Police Department ,containing the
names of those towing businesses licensed by the Town to respond to
nonpreference requests for the towing of vehicles at the request of
the Police Department.
[Added 4-10-1995]
The following minimum regulations must be met on a continuous
basis by the registered towing business:
A. Each registrant shall own and operate its own wrecker(s) and shall
supply to the Chief of Police satisfactory evidence, including vehicle
registration and title, if applicable, a notarized bill of sale or
a notarized lease agreement, to show ownership by the resident towing
business.
[Amended 11-28-1995]
B. Each towing business shall maintain satisfactory levels of insurance as described in §
215-4.
C. In registering, a towing business shall hold the Town harmless from
all claims for damages to property and injuries to persons resulting
from the towing business's negligence in the towing of or storage
of vehicles pursuant hereto.
D. Each towing business shall maintain such records as hereinafter may
be required by the Chief of Police and shall permit their inspection
during normal business hours. Among other requirements, the Chief
of Police may require that a prescribed vehicle accident-damage form
be completed prior to towing any vehicle; that a receipt be kept,
acknowledged by the claimant of a towed vehicle, showing all charges
assessed for towing, storage and repair; and that all records indicate
the place of vehicle storage and any damage sustained during or after
the towing operation.
E. Each registrant shall permit the Chief of Police or his designee
to conduct regular inspections of each towing vehicle and of each
storage area during normal business hours.
F. Licensees shall arrive on the scene within 30 minutes of receipt
of a request for service from the Police Department.
G. Vehicles must be towed and secured at the towing business's storage
location listed on the wrecker rotation application filed by the towing
business. Vehicles may not be driven to a storage lot.
[Amended 6-9-2020]
H. No vehicle shall be towed to/stored at a lot outside the Town of
Windham.
[Amended 6-9-2020]
I. A towing business shall clean the accident area of any and all debris
resulting from a traffic accident the business responds to. If multiple
vehicles are involved, responding towing businesses will work cooperatively
to clear the scene of all debris.
J. Each licensee shall comply with all applicable state, federal and local laws and regulations, including Chapter
120, Land Use, of the Code of the Town of Windham.
[Amended 3-14-1988]
K. Once approved by the Town, each licensed towing vehicle will be referenced
by a sticker to be affixed by the Town. No vehicle shall have more
than one Town of Windham towing sticker.
At his discretion, the Chief of Police or his designee may select
a towing business that does not appear on the towing rotation list
sequence when warranted by the requirement for special equipment and
procedures or when due to the location or exigent circumstances surrounding
vehicle removal.
Nothing in these regulations should be construed as creating
vested exclusive rights of a towing business to be called or selected
for a towing operation requested by an employee or official of the
Town of Windham; neither are the provisions contained herein designed
or intended to restrain the course of free trade nor restrict the
number of qualified registrants on the towing rotation list.
[Amended 6-9-2020]
Licenses shall remain in effect for one year, terminating on January 1 annually, unless terminated or revoked as provided herein. (Notation: The 2020 license year will be adjusted to accommodate the change over from May 15 to January 1. See the notation at the end of §
215-11 for the fee adjustment for the 2020 year.)
[Amended 6-9-2020; at
time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
An annual license registration fee for each towing business
requesting placement on the towing rotation list and an annual vehicle
administrative fee for each vehicle shall be set by the Town Council.
These fees will be payable in advance and nonrefundable. The administrative
fee for each tow vehicle is vehicle-specific and nontransferable.
These fees are not in lieu of required state inspections, but merely
to assure that the vehicles are properly registered, have an appropriate
inspection sticker and meet the requirements of this chapter.
[Amended 10-13-2015 by Order 15-144; at time of adoption of Code (see
Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Maximum rates for services regulated by this chapter may be
established by the Town Council and filed in the office of the Town
Clerk.
Any licensee aggrieved by the actions of the Chief of Police taken pursuant to §
215-9 hereof may appeal to the municipal officers, in writing, within 10 days of such actions. After a hearing, which must be held within two weeks of filing of the appeal, the municipal officers may reverse, nullify or sustain the decision of the Chief.