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Port Isabel, TX Code of Ordinances
CHAPTER 118: WRECKER SERVICES
Section
   118.01   Application for placement on rotation list
   118.02   Twenty-four hour service
   118.03   Impoundment of vehicles
   118.04   Auto pound requirements
   118.05   Maximum security
   118.06   Operation on rotation list
   118.07   Insurance coverage
   118.08   Prevailing fees for wrecker services
   118.09   Response time and duties
   118.10   Removal from rotation list
   118.11   Must comply with guidelines
   118.12   Soliciting of towing company/wrecker business on city streets prohibited
   118.13   Driving wrecker to scene of collision
   118.14   Interception of police radio communications
   118.15   Vehicles to display name of permit holder
   118.16   Application
   118.17   Business permit fees
   118.18   Rates
   118.19   Procedure for disposal of abandoned motor vehicles
   § 118.01 APPLICATION FOR PLACEMENT ON ROTATION LIST.
   Any person or firm wishing to be placed on the wrecker rotation list of the City Police Department must make application to the Chief of Police. The Chief of Police will inspect any and all wreckers to be placed on the wrecker rotation list.
(Ord. 448, passed 6-11-1985)
§ 118.02 TWENTY-FOUR HOUR SERVICE.
   The wrecker service must provide 24-hour service, seven days per week, during which time at least one wrecker must be available, for wrecker operations and for providing available personnel to release vehicles.
(Ord. 448, passed 6-11-1985)
§ 118.03 IMPOUNDMENT OF VEHICLES.
   All vehicles towed in by a wrecker company at the direction of the Police Department shall be impounded in an enclosed area, or at a place designated by the Police Department, by the company until release of the vehicle is authorized by the Police Department.
(Ord. 448, passed 6-11-1985)
§ 118.04 AUTO POUND REQUIREMENTS.
   An auto pound shall:
   (A)   Be located within the city limits or within a five mile radius of the city;
   (B)   Be located in an industrially zoned area;
   (C)   Be enclosed by a chain link fence or wood of a height not less than six feet;
   (D)   Be locked when not attended by an employee of the wrecker service; and
   (E)   Be adequately lighted for security purposes.
(Ord. 448, passed 6-11-1985)
§ 118.05 MAXIMUM SECURITY.
   The City Police Department may request that an automobile be stored in a maximum security indoor area either located at the impoundment facility or at another site approved by the Chief of Police.
(Ord. 448, passed 6-11-1985)
§ 118.06 OPERATION ON ROTATION LIST.
   In order to receive approval for operation on the rotation list, each wrecker must meet the following requirements:
   (A)   Be not less than three-quarter ton and be equipped with booster brakes;
   (B)   Be equipped with a power winch, winch line and boom with a sling-type lift and lifting capacity of not less than 10,000 pounds;
   (C)   Carry as standard equipment the following: tow bars, safety chains, fire extinguisher, wrecking bars, booms and an axe; and
(Ord. 448, passed 6-11-1985; Ord. 634, passed 2-10-2004; Ord. 634-A, passed 12-15-2020)
§ 118.07 INSURANCE COVERAGE.
   The wrecker operator shall have in force a policy of public liability and property damage insurance, which policy shall include the city as an insured, covering the public from any loss or damage that may arise to any person or property by reason of the operation of a wrecker of the company and proving that the amount of recovery on each wrecker shall be in limits of not less than the following sums:
   (A)   For damages arising out of bodily injury to or death or one person in any one accident: $100,000;
   (B)   For damages arising out of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident: $300,000;
   (C)   For injury to or destruction of property in any one accident: $50,000;
   (D)   A certificate of general garage liability (Broad Form Property Damage) to cover any damage or theft to any vehicle stored within the permittee's vehicle depository. This coverage will be in the minimum amount of $25,000; and
   (E)   A certificate of cargo insurance to cover damage to a towed vehicle during hook-up and/or towing, in the minimum amount of $25,000.
(Ord. 448, passed 6-11-1985)
§ 118.08 PREVAILING FEES FOR WRECKER SERVICES.
   Wrecker companies conducting rotation or private towing services shall charge no more than the rates set herein as a condition of operation within the city:
   (A)   Standard rotation tows (consent and non-consent): $200.
   (B)   Standard consent tows: $200.
   (C)   Standard private property tows: $200.
   (D)   Use of dollies, winches, jacks and other equipment: $30 in addition to towing fee.
   (E)   Recovery of vehicles in water which is greater than 12 inches in depth, or which is tidally- influenced: $450, plus $300 for all or part of each additional hour beyond one hour. In the event divers are needed to retrieve the vehicle, an amount equal to 130% of the diver’s fee, in addition to the cost of recovery.
   (F)   Standard recovery of vehicles from sand: $250.
   (G)   Waiting time, beyond one hour of arrival on scene: $50 for all or part of each 15 minute interval.
   (H)   Consent towing to locations outside of the corporate limits or extra-territorial jurisdiction of the city: $2 per mile, beginning at the limit of the city’s extra-territorial jurisdiction, in addition to the standard towing fee.
   (I)   Drop fee, to be charged when a tow is abandoned at the request of the vehicle owner following the connection of the towing equipment to the vehicle: $125.
   (J)   Incident management fee (cleaning of debris, automotive fluids and other matter generated by collisions from the roadway; does not include hazardous materials): $50 for all or part of each hour. In the event hazardous materials remediation is required, and amount equal to 130% of the hazardous materials remediation company, in addition to the cost of incident management.
   (K)   Recovery of vehicles greater than three tons gross vehicle weight rating, an additional $150 for all or part of each hour.
   (L)   Upon petition of a towing operator licensed under this section, or its own motion, the city shall examine the prevailing fees for wrecker services, and issue revisions to the maximum fees set forth herein.
(Ord. 448, passed 6-11-1985; Ord. 448-A, passed 3-1-2017; Ord. 634-A, passed 12-15-2020)
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