The ordinance pertains to “non-consent” tows, those made following an arrest or an accident in which the owner of a vehicle does not have a preference of a towing company.
Councilmen asked the city staff to come up with a proposed ordinance following a complaint at a meeting in September when several men, including a tow truck driver, a former commissioner and a one-time city councilman, complained about one company in town that was alleged to be overcharging for non-consent tows.
Diamond Towing and Galvan Super Towing were cited as the two companies that had been overcharging for non-consent tows and stacking up charges for storing vehicles and other services.
Both companies are owned by the same people, the council was told.
Belen Galvan, company owner, has been to the last two council meetings asking what part of her fees the council considers higher than they should be and asking what fees the council believes are fair. She has been told that the ordinance passed Tuesday evening will address those concerns.
The council ordered Police Chief Joe Treviño to remove the two companies from his rotation list of towing services but councilmen directed City Manager Ford Patton Tuesday to have the companies put back on the list.
City Secretary Tomas P. Saenz told the council that he expects the new ordinance to officially go into effect on Dec. 1 after the city has met public notification requirements.
The ordinance sets maximum fees, much as the ordinance in effect in Corpus Christi does. Those include a fee of $125 for non-consent tows, including double hookups, $85 for a private property impound tow, $50 for a drop fee, $50 for the use of dollies, go-jacks or skates and $50 for services line winching vehicles out of ditches, water or for righting overturned vehicles.
The ordinance also puts a limit on total charges for a rotation list tow at $250 and at $185 for a private property impound tow.
Roadside cleanups are limited under the ordinance at $50 and daily impound fees were limited to $20, plus state and local sales taxes.
City Attorney Frank Warner recommended approval of the ordinance just to get something on the books to regulate the business and said it can always be amended later if problems arise.
The only councilman who did not vote for the ordinance was Jimbo Martinez. He was unable to be there.
Councilmen also voted to allow the city staff to advertise for proposals from companies interested in providing health insurance coverage for city employees.
Although the original request would have allowed companies to submit proposals for self-insurance programs, City Finance Director Robert Aguilar asked the council to drop that from the letter.
Aguilar said the city simply does not have enough employees to make a self-insurance program feasible. Patton supported that, saying he also would recommend doing away with the request for self-insured plans.
Councilmen agreed and voted without opposition to drop that from the request.
In other business, the council voted to:
— Approve a number of zone change requests from the St. Mary’s Academy Charter School for 602 N. Tyler St., 605 N. Filmore St., the former railroad right of way between blocks 37 and 24 of the Jones Addition and 622 E. Steiner St.
The school is planning an expansion project.
— Appoint Yolanda Chamberlain to the city’s Traffic Safety Commission and reappoint Bill Hooten and Greg Traylor to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
— Approve the city’s 2008 tax roll to comply with the Texas Property Tax Code.
— Approve the first reading of an amendment to the Beeville Economic Improvement Corporation budget for an allocation of $30,000 for a business improvement grant program.
— Establish the downtown area as a slum and blighted area to qualify for a Texas Capital Fund grant for improvements.
— Schedule a public hearing for Nov. 11 to discuss a proposed alley closing in block 29 of the Original Town of Beeville.
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