Lawrence public safety committee questions Best Price Towing practices and why snow-removal contract was unsigned

The Lawrence public safety committee reviewed complaints about Best Price Towing and the city’s snow-removal towing list during a meeting on item 30-25, asking the city attorney for an explanation of why Best Price’s snow-removal contract was not signed and directing staff to contact other contracted tow firms.

Councilor Gregory de Rosario, who placed the item on the committee’s agenda, said constituent complaints prompted the review. “We represent people and two complaints, even if it’s she said, he said … we need to take into consideration and try to find out what exactly is going on,” Councilor Gregory de Rosario said.

The committee heard from Lieutenant Jay Cerullo of the Lawrence Police Department, who described two separate city tow agreements: a regular “duty tow” rotation (Sheehan’s and Cody’s) that requires a secured tow lot, AAA certification and certain insurance, and a separate snow-removal towing agreement the city created to increase capacity during DPW snow operations. “We have two current contracts in the city… the second tow agreement… was to increase the number of vehicles that we could tow during DPW and city snow emergencies,” Lieutenant Jay Cerullo said.

Police reported that…