BOARDMAN Trustees hear of towing concerns

Another issue is the handling of cars of drunken drivers, an attorney said.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- If several major towing companies are to operate on a level playing field, township officials need to make certain changes to ensure that business isn't unfairly taken from those companies.
That was one of the key points Atty. Jennifer Kirr brought forth at Monday's trustees meeting. Kirr, who represents Gobel's 24 Hour Towing of Poland, Crump's Towing, Ludt's Auto & amp; Truck Towing and Utsinger's Towing & amp; Repair, all of Boardman, said the four are part of a rotation list for the township.
Partly because of certain police procedures regarding drivers who need their vehicles to be towed, other companies not on the list are more easily able to handle calls in the township, which takes business from the four, Kirr said. Too often, some police officers who respond to accidents and other situations suggest a company affiliated with the American Automobile Association or call a dispatcher who sends any towing company in the vicinity to the scene, both of which can be unfair to the companies serving the township, she continued.
Another issue
Another problem officials need to look at, Kirr added, is how some officers handle the vehicles of drunken drivers they pull over. Some intoxicated drivers are asked by police during their arrest whether they want their vehicles to be towed or parked. If they opt to have the police park the car, some impaired motorists later call someone to take them to their vehicle, and they drive while still intoxicated, she contended. Such a policy opens the township and others to liability if the vehicle is stolen or damaged, for example, Kirr said.
Another issue, she continued, is dealing with people who choose to abandon their vehicles at a towing company's yard instead of paying to have them released. Towing companies don't get paid to keep such vehicles after a certain point, and their insurance rates often increase, she noted.
Kirr told trustees she wants to see the truck drivers receive the standard $90 for each police tow and $12 per day for storage; drivers for the companies are getting about $65 for such tows and $10 a day for storage, she said. Drivers arrested on DUI charges should have their vehicles towed, not parked by police, and held at least until the drivers are no longer impaired, several at the meeting said.
In other business, trustees approved a motion to apply for two Eastgate Regional Council of Governments grants. One Transportation Enhancement Grant would secure funding for a sidewalk on the west side of Glenwood Avenue between U.S. Route 224 and the Boardman branch of the Public Library of Mahoning County, Trustee Robyn Gallitto said. The other county grant would go toward refurbishing a bridge near Glenwood Avenue and Mill Creek Boulevard near Mill Creek Park.