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Tow board asks town and county to cap law-enforcement tow rotation at five companies
Summary
Gloria Knott, chair of the joint tow board, told the liaison meeting the board voted Oct. 2 to cap the law-enforcement tow rotation at five firms to limit equipment and insurance costs and to keep a reliable rotation for accident scenes. Staff and elected officials asked for draft bylaw language for review.
Gloria Knott, chair of the joint tow board and owner of Keane's Towing, told the Oct. 17 Town–County liaison meeting the tow board voted Oct. 2 to cap the rotation used by law enforcement at five companies. Knott said the change responds to rising replacement-equipment, insurance, tax and maintenance costs that make participation increasingly expensive for towing businesses and to law enforcement’s preference for a manageable, reliable list of providers.
"The board is requesting a cap due to the cost of the replacement equipment, such as the tow truck from the wreckers, as well as maintaining truck maintenance," Knott said. She named the current rotation firms as Tharpe's Towing, Midway Towing, Shenandoah Towing, Kings Towing and the July 2024 entrant In A Pickle.
Knott described the operational practice: vehicle owners may request a specific tower; if the requested company cannot respond within the agency’s time standard, law enforcement uses its rotation list. She said the board’s bylaws and local code require applicants to have a local lot and to be in business at least six months before applying to the rotation.
Supervisors and council members at the liaison meeting raised two recurring concerns: preserving fair access for new entrants and ensuring performance accountability. Multiple elected officials suggested adding an annual or periodic review in the tow-board bylaws and establishing performance standards so a company could be removed for cause rather than remaining indefinite on the list.
The liaison group asked Knott to draft proposed bylaw language and provide contact information for the current five companies. County and town representatives said they would accept the language by email, take it to their respective governing bodies and consider whether to place the change on a work session agenda.
The presenters and board members emphasized the Oct. 17 meeting was informational; no formal ordinance or motion was adopted at that meeting. The item will return to each governing body for deliberation and possible revision of tow-board bylaws.
