(A) Definitions.
ROTATION LIST. A list of licensed wrecker service providers used by the City of Newcastle Police Department dispatchers as a system for rotating among licensed wrecker service businesses requests to impound, tow or otherwise move vehicles.
WRECKER. Any vehicle, other than a transporter as defined in 47 O.S. § 1-181, equipped with a winch, cable or other device designed to lift, pull or move a vehicle, object or structure incapable of self-propulsion. WRECKER does not include a vehicle with a push bumper only.
WRECKER SERVICE. Includes:
(a) The business of offering the service of a wrecker to tow or otherwise remove a vehicle from the place where it was disabled or impounded to a safe, protected storage area, in response to official calls from the City of Newcastle.
(b) The business of offering the service of a wrecker to transport any vehicle, object or structure, or to assist the owner thereof, in response to a non-emergency request for service other than that defined in 47 O.S. § 1-181.
(B) License required.
(1) It shall be unlawful to operate a wrecker vehicle or to operate a wrecker service within the corporate limits of the City of Newcastle, unless the owner or operator of the wrecker or wrecker service first obtains a wrecker license from the office of the City Clerk.
(2) An annual license fee of $50 is due on or before May 1 of each year. No pro-ration of fees shall be made for a license issued for a partial year.
(C) Conditions of license. Upon application of a wrecker services provider, the Newcastle City Clerk shall issue a wrecker license on the following conditions:
(1) The wrecker or wrecker service provider operating within the corporate limits of the City of Newcastle possesses and maintains a wrecker license from the State of Oklahoma Department of Public Safety;
(2) The wrecker service provider maintains an office and a storage facility within any industrial zoning district located within the municipal limits of the City of Newcastle. The Newcastle City Manager, however, may approve that a license be issued to a wrecker service with facilities located near, but not within, the municipal boundaries of the City of Newcastle provided it has adequate response time or necessary equipment not otherwise available;
(3) The wrecker service provider provides service 24 hours per day, each day of operation. The wrecker service shall not accept a dispatch call from the Newcastle Police Department unless a wrecker and driver are immediately available for dispatch at the time such call is received and the wrecker is adequate to tow or service the subject vehicle;
(4) The wrecker service provider dispatched to the scene of an accident shall be responsible for clearing from the street all debris existing as a result of such accident, including any ordinary vehicle fluids found at the scene of the collision with absorbing material used to absorb vehicle fluids as allowed by law;
(5) An inventory of the contents in each towed vehicle shall be prepared by the wrecker driver before the vehicle is removed, and for vehicles being impounded by the Newcastle Police Department the inventory shall be conducted pursuant to the policies of the Newcastle Police Department;
(6) The wrecker service provider shall keep records in which he will log each police call received, the time such call was received, the time the wrecker reached the scene, and the time the wrecker returned. Such records shall be kept daily, maintained for a period of at least five years, and shall be open to inspection by the Newcastle Police Department upon request;
(7) All wreckers or wrecker service providers licensed by the City of Newcastle shall be clearly marked with the name of the wrecker service in letters not less than two inches in height and one-half inch in width and shall be easily readable;
(8) Wrecker service providers may be licensed but not placed on the rotation list at the request of the licensee, or upon administrative denial of placement on the rotation list for failure to meet any condition of this section except possession of a valid state license;
(10) The wrecker service impound yard shall be screened from view from any street or highway with a sight-proof fence constructed with standard fencing materials and having a minimum height of eight feet;
(11) The wrecker service and impound yard is located within an industrial-zoned district; and
(12) The wrecker service provider agrees to comply with all other zoning requirements and regulations of the Newcastle Code of Ordinances and laws of the State of Oklahoma.
(D) Rotation of requests for service.
(1) All wrecker provider services approved for rotation shall be included on a rotation list maintained by the Newcastle City Clerk. The rotation list shall be provided to the Newcastle Police Department where it shall be retained for police dispatch purposes for wrecker services. The Newcastle Police Department shall use the rotation list in the order provided and establish policies not inconsistent with this section for a system of police dispatch calls for wrecker services. Amendments of information contained in the wrecker rotation list may be made, including additions and deletions of wrecker service providers upon notification by the Newcastle City Clerk.
(2) The Newcastle Chief of Police or his/her designee may select a wrecker service provider that is not the next wrecker service provider on the rotation list, or a wrecker service provider not on the rotation list may be selected, in order to respond when necessary in case of exigent circumstances and to provide for the public safety and the efficient flow of traffic.
(3) The wrecker service rotation system shall not apply to instances in which a truck wrecker is needed to service, tow or impound a truck, truck-tractor, road tractor, trailer, semi-trailer, bus, heavy equipment and/or other vehicle and conveyance. In such instances, the Newcastle Chief of Police or his/her designee shall call a provider having a truck wrecker. For purposes of this provision, "truck wrecker" means every motor vehicle properly designed and equipped according to Oklahoma Department of Public Safety specifications with wrecker body and winch or lifting apparatus suitably designed to safely move, pull or tow wrecked, damaged or disabled trucks, truck-tractors, road tractors, trailer, semi-trailers, buses and/or other vehicles and conveyances.
(4) A wrecker service provider shall not be removed from rotation without notification to the wrecker operator stating the reason for removal from the rotation list. All notifications for removal from a rotation list shall be mailed to the wrecker service owner at least ten days before removal from the rotation list and shall state the procedure and requirements for reinstatement.
(5) The wrecker service provider shall notify the Newcastle Chief of Police within ten days of the date of any of the following occurrences:
(a) It no longer maintains a State of Oklahoma wrecker license;
(b) It changes the wrecker service business name, ownership or telephone number;
(c) It moves the physical address of the wrecker service office and/or storage facility;
(d) It changes the number or type of available wreckers; or
(e) There is any change in compliance or ability to comply with the requirements of this section.
(2002 Code, § 110.07) (Ord. 858, passed 6-8-2020)
Penalty, see § 10.99