Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Towing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
York County towing advisory board reports orderly rollout, standardized fees and a single, resolved complaint
Summary
Officials told the York County Board of Supervisors the county’s towing advisory board has a 16‑company roster, handles about 75 police‑requested calls monthly, audits tow sheets for fee accuracy and has resolved one complaint at the sheriff’s office level.
Assistant county attorney Sheree Costenue and Captain Jason Houston updated supervisors on the towing advisory board and the ordinance the board produced.
Costenue said the county now has 16 firms authorized to provide police‑requested towing services — 10 in the upper county and six in the lower — and that those firms together are handling roughly 75 calls per month. "They're just doing it now in an organized, orderly and very uniform fashion," she said.
She described the complaint and compliance process: the sheriff's office conducts first‑tier complaint handling and inspects tow yards annually; only one complaint has been filed under the new regime and it was resolved at the sheriff's level after a deputy incorrectly followed protocol. Costenue said education and targeted instruction resolved the issue.
Captain Houston described fee auditing: staff randomly pull tow sheets and compare company receipts and body/dash camera to confirm bills are accurate and consistent. "That’s how we're doing the standard to make sure that everything is fair, firm and consistent," he said. Tow operators told presenters they appreciate standardized pricing, which eliminated wide price variation for similar tows.
Speakers also addressed operational questions: the county maintains separate upper and lower rosters to reduce response times and ensure heavy‑equipment coverage; some companies are awaiting first annual inspections before fully joining the roster. Presenters said they plan minor ordinance tweaks (definitions, equipment classes, tonnage thresholds) and will return before the board if revisions require an ordinance amendment.
Supervisors expressed satisfaction with the implementation and thanked the advisory board and sheriff's office for the rollout. The board did not take formal action on ordinance changes at the meeting.
