A.
The Borough Council, under the following conditions, shall designate no more than two towing companies as approved, and garages as approved storage places for the storage of impounded motor vehicles that meet the following conditions:
(1)
A certificate of insurance naming the Borough as an additional insured under the towing/storage company's policy. Liability coverage with a minimum limit of $1,000,000 is required (may be garage liability form of both auto and general liability).
(2)
The certificate shall show evidence of garage keeper's coverage with a minimum limit of $50,000 per vehicle; tower's liability of $40,000 per vehicle, and workers' compensation, if applicable (if applicant has employees).
(3)
Provide evidence of a facility (owned or leased by the applicant) for the storage of at least 150 cars. Such facility shall provide a locked, fence-enclosed compound, as well as a building capable of storing five vehicles. Said facility must be in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and within five miles of the Borough.
(4)
A state salvor's license.
(5)
A copy of a salvor's bond with a minimum amount of $20,000.
(6)
All documentation required by this section shall accompany any request to become an approved towing and/or storage facility. One copy will be provided to the Borough Manager and one copy shall be provided to the Chief of Police. In order to remain an approved towing and/or storage company, all documentation required by this section will be updated yearly with the Borough Manager and Chief of Police.
B.
Provide a listing of the approved towing and storage companies to be posted in the Police Department.
C.
Towing and storage charges shall be set by the towing company in accordance with the base rate for the vehicle towed and stored, provided such rate is reasonable and customary for the vehicle being towed.
D.
Service fee.
(1)
Each vehicle towed or impounded requires a substantial investment of manpower and equipment on behalf of the Borough. For this reason, the towing company will pay a service fee to the Borough for each vehicle towed or impounded at the direction of the police. The service fee is included in the fine scale. This service fee will be paid from the charges specified in Subsection C. This fee shall be paid within 30 days of the date the towing company received payment from the customer. Failure to remit fees within 30 days of the end of the month will result in the towing company being suspended from further referrals.
(2)
No service fee will be assessed for any vehicle when the towing company is paid by any auto club or similar entity, i.e., AAA, etc. There will be no service fee assessed for any Borough vehicle that has been towed. Each approved towing company, during its time of normal rotation as defined in § 162-6, shall tow and store abandoned vehicles at the designation of the Police Department at no charge to the Borough. Additionally, no storage charges will be assessed to the Borough for storage of abandoned vehicles. No service fee for towing any vehicle declared as abandoned, regardless of whether the abandonment is prior to or subsequent to the police-ordered tow, shall be remitted to the Borough by any tow service.
E.
Sole towing agency while on call; exceptions.
(1)
Each approved towing company, during its regular period of on-call rotation, shall be the sole towing agency during such period, unless:
(a)
Said towing company requests another agency be called in its place.
(b)
The on-call tow service fails to respond to the request for service within a reasonable time frame. Expected response time shall be no more than 15 minutes from initial contact with the tow company and a max response time of no more than 30 minutes from initial contact with the tow company. If the max time is exceeded, the Police Supervisor may request the next tow service on the scheduled rotation to respond.
(c)
The Police Supervisor may request, at his/her discretion, an alternate tow service than that scheduled per the on-call rotation if circumstances necessitate the need for specific equipment or multiple tow units not available by the tow service on call.
(2)
Nothing in this section shall prohibit any authorized tow service from subcontracting to another tow service or requesting assistance from another tow service.