Industry News
12/28/11: Towing Contract RFP Towing Ordinance
December 22, 2011
According to a member of the Fairbanks City Council, the City Towing Contractor will not be continuing under their current contract option for the upcoming year. Instead, the City will be issuing a new invitation to bid the towing contract for 2012. This has not yet been confirmed by the Tony Shumate, the City Purchasing Agent, but the Association will be following this closely. Update 12/27/11: Tony Shumate has confirmed that the City will be soliciting bids for the Towing Contract. He will be emailing those tow companies with contact info on file by 12/30/11. If you do not receive notification via email, check the City's website.
http://www.fairbanksalaska.us/departments/personnel-and-purchasing/invitations-to-bid/
Dec. 15 2011
Per the City, not one Operator's license has yet been issued. An Operator's license is required for tow companies if they want their name on the City Police Rotation list for 2012.
November 28 2011
The Council has passed both the new towing ordinance AND the revised licensing fee. If you are a tower interested in obtaining one of the new Master Operator's License for towing in Fairbanks, contact the City Clerk's office.
October 2011
The new City of Fairbanks Towing Ordinance, which caps tow fees and allows for a spot on the police rotation list for tow companies who obtain a towing license under the new ordinance, is
on the Council Agenda for Monday, October 24th. Public comment on the ordinance will be received during this regular City Council meeting. If you have comments or concerns about the ordinance, this is the time to speak up about it! For more info, see http://www.fairbanksalaska.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Agenda-Packet-10-24-2011.pdf
September 2011
Legal Info: For any towers that missed it's launch, check out our Resources page for a link to order Mike McGovern's new book, Towing and the Law. It's only available through TowTimes.
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City Towing Ordinance: The City of Fairbanks has drafted a new towing ordinance. Public comment on the ordinance will be received during the regular City Council meeting October 24th. For more information, contact the City Clerk, or stop by Badger Towing's office to view the Association's copy.
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AUGUST 2011--The City of Fairbanks continues to work on a new towing ordinance to replace the decades-old and largely unenforcable towing code currently on the books.
In an effort to improve the level of services and response time currently available, Mayor Cleworth and the City Police Department are considering returning City Police no-preference towing to a rotation list of qualified tow companies.
Qualified tow companies would be required to obtain a City Towing license in addition to their business license, and licensees must agree to a City-mandated cap on towing fees for services performed during a rotation call.
The Association had an opportunity to view the drafted ordinance, and so far finds this new effort to be a vast improvement over the City's previous attempts to license and regulate towers providing services within the City. The Ordinance should be available for public comment by October.
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July 2011--
Allstate Roadside Services integrated the GoodSam motor club into their roadside assistance programs as of January of this year. According to Greg Genua of ARS, Allstate is committed to ensuring a positive experience for their Good Sam members, even in Alaska where RV towing can be a challenge. Allstate providers contracted for RV towing may want to contact their rep about the Good Sam addition if they have questions.
The Alaska Towing Association has been involved in conversations via email with State DMV personnel, regarding the necessity for impound towers to provide notification of Impound and impending sale to untitled vehicle owners. Specifically, the DMV maintained that individuals named as the "transfer pending" owners had to be notified within seven days in the same manner as the titled owners of a vehicle, even if they had never submitted an application for vehicle title.
The newest word is that the DMV has revisited this position, and determined that transfer pending owners that have not applied for a vehicle titel within the 30 days allowed by Alaska Statutes do NOT have to be notified of a towing and storage lien, or impending lien sale.
May, 2011
The Towing Association met with City Mayor Jerry Cleworth to discuss the possibility of adjustments to the City Towing Contract for the next contract period. The Mayor has expressed an interest in returning the City's no-preference towing to tow companies on a rotation list.
Stipulations for towers interested in being part of that rotation list would likely be implemented, if the City chooses to go that route, but the Association considers Mayor Cleworth's attention to the issue a positive step toward correcting the towing contract situation. Some members of the Association still maintain that the towing contract of 2010 contained flaws in both the bidding process and the execution of the contract after the contract was awarded to the winning bidder.
A revamp and rebid of the towing contract would provide an opportunity to correct the alleged flaws, and the return of a no-preference towing rotation list could be a positive economic opportunity for the tow companies of Fairbanks.
The City of Fairbanks started out 2010 with a new Towing Contractor after more than 20 years. The new contract included an arbitrary change by the City to assign all private, no preference, non-impound tows in the City to the Towing Contractor, and effectively eliminate the towing rotation list. Not only was the City not especially forthcoming about this change, but included little about it in the language of the Contract, leaving some Towing Association members questioning the legality.
At issue is the assignment of all private tows within City jurisdiction to a private enterprise, with no regulation or monitoring of the private enterprise performing these services. If the City chooses only one company for it's residents, the City should accept some level of responsibility for it's chosen service provider, but the City claims that private towing services involve a contract between an individual and the towing company...but the City gets to insist on one towing company only?
One Association member is meeting with renowned towing attorney Michael McGovern later this month to look into the City's actions, and the Towing Association is watching this situation closely.
Update: After multiple cancellations, the City met with concerned towers today about the City Towing Contract. The City Purchasing Agent, Tony Shumate, and Lt. Geier of the City Police, were in attendance and listened to the tower's specific concerns about the contract process and subsequent results, but they appeared to find little merit in what the towers present had to say. Nor did they offer any information concerning the City's response to a letter from Michael McGovern of The Mcgovern Law Firm in Tennessee, who is representing several area tow companies, requesting action from the City to rectify the shortcomings of the Towing Contract. The City Attorney was present, but made no comment.
Alaskan Credit Unions find a Loophole in the Law
Also of interest for those towers who perform impounds, either privately or for law enforcement--There have been multiple instances, both in Anchorage and Fairbanks, where a little known paragraph in the Alaska Statutes (AS 28.10.391) has been used to reclaim liened vehicles from impound without paying the impound fees accrued.(more...)
Update: In response, the State Legislature passed House Bill 251, which also included stipulations for Notification of Lien and Sale, tightening the requirements for notifiying owners of towed or stored vehicles of charges and impending sale per AS 28.10.502. Towers performing impounds should make themselves familiar with the changes to the statute.
The most misunderstood aspect of the changes implemented by HB251 is the requirement that allows only seven days for towers to notify vehicle owners of the possessory lien. Seven days is legally interpreted as "seven business days." And since notification by certified mail is required, the tow company providing the notification is not responsible for the length of time the notification remains in the hands of the US Postal service.
The Association recommends that all towers manage the requirements with a eye toward promptly scheduled notifications. Despite the fact that weekends and poor mail service may in some circumstances delay notification beyond the seven day period with no penalty upon the tower, the perception of those receiving tardy notifications will be that the tower failed to follow the rules. That is a perception all tow companies should work diligently to avoid.
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